Sisters in the Magic Kingdom
by thedollyloli
Summary: Just as Anna and Elsa are getting adjusted to their new lives, they discover they're part of a legacy that goes far beyond anything familiar, and spend time in a completely different world. MASS DISNEY CROSSOVER IN WALT DISNEY WORLD. ElsaxRalph in future chapters.
1. A Strange Proposition

Even as autumn approached, the sun still shone bright as ever in Arendelle. Perhaps after the Freeze, Mother Nature took pity on the kingdom and decided to extend their summer. Either way, for the last two months, there hadn't been a chill to speak of. Of course, that meant most people were spending their time outdoors; buying and selling, catching up with friends, or just enjoying the scenery. Right now, Anna was among those people.

It seemed like even after they had reconciled, she never got to spend as much time with Elsa as she wanted. Of course, Elsa couldn't exactly help it, being queen and all. The past few weeks, politicians and diplomats had piled work onto her as if they'd never get the chance to do so again. That was a ridiculous thing to think – the gates weren't closing any time soon. But Elsa was still eager to prove her skills. Thinking about it made her smile – she was so proud of her sister. Still, it did disappoint her a little…

And to top it all off, Kristoff was busy with work, too. So she did what she usually did when she was left by herself: she tried to keep herself entertained. That was much easier than it used to be, now that she could wander around town as much as she wanted. There were so many things that caught her eye! But she was only allowed so much spending money, and it was hard to restrain herself.

She had settled on a delicious looking pie to share with her friends, when she saw an unusual sight nearby. A grand ship was in the process of docking at the port. True, that wasn't such a rare thing nowadays. But in the last couple months, she had taken to identifying and memorizing each ship that came to visit. Even after so long, it still felt like a novelty! Yet she was sure she had never seen this one at all.

Should she tell Elsa? She had said she wasn't expecting any more visits for a while. How rude it was for them to show up without any notice! She made up her mind and ran up to her sister's room, taking extra care not to drop her pie.

"Hey, Elsa, did you just see the ship – " She paused, realizing that Elsa was already looking at the grandiose vessel from her window.

"Huh?" Elsa jumped slightly; she loved Anna coming to her room, but she was always so sudden about it. "Oh! Oh, yeah. Of course I've seen it. It's kind of hard to not notice." She rested her cheek on her hand. "This is really strange. A voyage to here from America should take months, _years_ even."

Anna's eyes widened. "A-America?" She had only heard bits and pieces about the country, but nothing about them wanting to visit. "Why are people from America here?"

"Well, I got a letter from them…exactly a week ago." A _week. _How could a ship cross the Atlantic in a WEEK?! It couldn't have been that. Maybe the letter's arrival had been delayed. Still, that would be some delay. And besides that, something still felt off. "It was so…" As much as she tried to find the words to explain the bizarre way the letter was written, this was one of the rare occasions when her vocabulary was failing her. "Hold on." After digging through shelves and shelves of carefully filed documents, she finally came across the letter. "Just…read this. I can't explain it."

Anna held the document and skimmed over its contents. It looked like any other formal letter she'd seen...though that wasn't saying much, since she didn't get many of those. But one thing at the end of the paper caught her eye.

"What's this?" she asked, pointing to a strange symbol that proceeded the letter's signature.

Elsa shrugged. "I would think it's their seal or coat of arms, or something like that." True, they didn't exactly have a royal lineage they could assign a seal to, but it didn't seem too farfetched for them to want some kind of symbol to represent the government as a whole.

Anna shook her head. "I know _that_," she whined. "I mean, what IS it? It just looks like an ink blot!"

Elsa thought about it for a moment. "You know what? I have no idea," she admitted, taking a look at it again. "It just looks like two smaller circles on top of one big one…" Maybe she was just too used to traditional designs for something as official as a royal seal, but it was so abstract it almost felt underwhelming. A seven year old could draw the same thing! What in the world was it supposed to represent?

She saw the ship's passengers unloading out of the corner of her eye, and let out a slightly aggravated sigh, regretting not having more time to prepare. "I need to start heading down," she told her sister, enveloping herself in her usual icy gown much more hastily than usual. "I'll see you at dinner, okay?"

"Oh, o-okay! See you then, I guess…" Anna replied, caught off guard by her abrupt departure.

She glanced around the room, trying to decide what to do with herself now. She was surprised to step in a blob of…raspberry jam? Oh, great. She'd dropped the pie. Well, at least Elsa hadn't noticed. _Better clean this up before she gets back…_

* * *

It wasn't long before Elsa had descended the stairs and was outside the door to greet her guests.

As she watched them approach the castle's entrance, she was surprised to see they were wearing matching uniforms. That never happened unless military negotiations were involved…she tried to hide her anxiety at the thought. Then again, they didn't exactly look like uniforms meant for combat. Not something so casual, and with all the bright primary colors. In their garb, they almost looked like…clowns. She smirked; that's what Anna would say, at least. But she couldn't dwell on that thought. Whatever American customs were, she knew the visitors still wouldn't appreciate having giggles directed at them in the middle of political discussions, even if it _was _by accident.

She smiled at the small group of men and women once they were in speaking distance. "Good afternoon," she said with a bow – from her experience, curtsying never went well for her. "Welcome to Arendelle. You're here as representatives for…" What had they called it? A company of some sort, but the name had struck her as odd… "D-D'Isgny, correct?" The moment it came out of her mouth, she knew she'd probably pronounced it wrong. Way to make a good first impression.

However, they didn't seem to notice. The man in front of them all, who wasn't especially impressive but looks were deceiving, bowed deeply back. "Your majesty, we are honored to be in your presence today," he said with a smile. "Are you ready to start discussions, or do you still have work to finish up?"

She blinked in surprise. No diplomat had ever asked her that before. The expectation was always that she had to be up and ready to go as soon as they came to the door. How was she supposed to respond to this? "N-No, I'm all set. But thank you for your concern," she finally managed to say. "This way, please." With that, she led the group to the conference room.

The queen sat in her usual chair, while her visitors seemed to take whatever seats were left across from her. The table was so long, with so many chairs; Elsa had yet to attend a discussion in which every seat was occupied. But then, she wasn't one for large crowds anyway.

At that moment, Kai entered the room, per usual for these sorts of meetings. He turned to the guests. "Can we interest you in any refreshments? Drinks, pastries?"

"You got any Mountain Dew?" one of the men asked.

Both Kai and Elsa were puzzled. "Mountain…dew?" the servant repeated. "Is the dew from the mountains a delicacy in America? I'm afraid we don't have any of that in stock here…"

The man blushed, realizing his mistake, and the man next to him, who seemed to be the leader of this group, elbowed him in his side. The woman snickered at the two of them. "Erm, yeah, sorry," the man muttered sheepishly. "I'll just have some water, then."

Once Kai departed with the requests, Elsa was able to start the discussion. "So…I understand you wanted to collaborate with Arendelle? What is it that you'd like to arrange? A political alliance? An economic deal?" The latter seemed more likely, considering they were apparently a business. But the letter had been worded so vaguely, she wasn't entirely sure. Why didn't she think of bringing it to the meeting for reference?

The leader cleared his throat. "Well, not exactly either of those," he explained. "We'd like to arrange a visitation, if you're all right with it, your majesty."

"A visitation?" She paused, trying to comprehend his use of the term. "You want me to visit your country? As a dignitary?"

"As a guest," he replied with a smile. "A most honored guest." It certainly seemed like a genuine smile, but she was wary about being manipulated by political figures. Especially after the incident with Hans…

Still, there didn't seem to be any problem with what he was suggesting. "I see. And what will I be doing as your 'guest?'

"Greeting the people. You've become a very popular figure among them." Kai passed out everyone's drink, and he took a sip of his coffee. "The children especially! I can't even begin to describe how thrilled they'd be to meet you!" He almost shouted the last part, raising his arms in the air. Elsa got the feeling he was an easily excitable type.

"Oh…" She stopped to ponder what he'd said. True, word of herself and the Freeze had spread quickly across Europe. The stories passing over the Atlantic wasn't unreasonable. But something still felt strange about this. Maybe she just wasn't used to being popular, or _liked, _for that matter. She could handle attention from multiple countries, but an entire new continent – full of children, no less! Was she really ready for that? And there were still so many questions. Why was this company in particular arranging this? They had said they were a private organization. Unless this all worked differently in America somehow.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two pairs of feet running through the hallway. She rolled her eyes, smirking; if she could recognize the footsteps of any person so easily, it was Anna's and Olaf's. So her sister was doing okay while she was busy. "I apologize for the noise," she told her guests. "They…do get carried away sometimes, but if worse comes to worse, I can soundproof the room." It was a technique she had learned recently, barricading against noise with her ice. It sure came in handy when Anna and Kristoff got into arguments.

The woman glanced toward the door. "Can we bring them in?"

Elsa blinked. "What…who? Anna and Olaf?"

"Yes, exactly."

What were they thinking? _Why?! _She didn't know how much detail the rumors about her had been, but surely they could just tell from the noise outside that they weren't exactly…politically savvy. Olaf had the intelligence of a five-year-old, at best. And Anna? She never did great with her studies, but she didn't blame her for that. Heck, Elsa had only focused so much on academics because it was the only thing she had in that room of hers for so long. But the life of a queen was stressful, and it was a miracle that she'd learned to handle it. She just couldn't bring herself to put that stress onto her sister!

"I-I don't think that's a good idea," she stuttered. "Frankly, they lack experience. I don't know if they could even…"

"What's she saying about us?" she heard a voice say from the other side of the door.

"I don't know. But if it's about us, then we should know…" Were they eavesdropping on the meeting?!

"Anna!" she shouted through the wooden door, losing her composure for a moment. "Stop trying to listen in! This is serious business!"

"Everything is serious business with you, Elsa," Anna teased back.

"Please, I-I'm in the middle of…" As she tried to talk, the visitors beckoned the princess to come in instead. "What? No, don't…"

But before she could finish her sentence, Anna had already peeked her head inside. She eyed the group at the table, a stunned look on her face. "Wow…strange bunch today."

Elsa let out an exasperated sigh. "Go ahead and take a seat, Anna." No point in trying to argue about it now. Still, she managed to shut the door before Olaf could follow her in – she had to draw the line _somewhere_.

Anna casually sat next to her sister. "So, what's going on right now?"

"Well…these people wanted me to visit their country and meet the people," she told her, trying to simplify things as much as possible.

"Really?! Can I come, too? I'd love to visit another country!" she exclaimed.

Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but the group leader cut her off. "We'd love for you to come along, your highness."

Anna practically squealed with delight. Elsa watched, still not quite sure about all this…but she always loved seeing her younger sister so happy.

It struck the queen that an important question had slipped her mind. "Which city will we be visiting?"

This time, it took a while for the leader to answer. "Well, it's not exactly a city…"

"It's a theme park!" the other man added.

"A…theme park?" Anna repeated. "Like, a park, but with a theme?" She thought above the strange phrase, looking over the pastries lining the table as she did so.

Elsa tried to help her sister out. "Sir…"

"John. My name's John."

"All right, John." She took a breath. "Could you or your partners please elaborate?"

"The best term to describe it would be an entertainment complex," the leader replied. "It's supposed to be like a fantasy world. An experience away from reality. We call it Walt Disney World."

So they were entertainers? Were she and Anna expected to entertain, too? Or were they guests there to _watch _the entertainment? "I don't think I understand…"

The group remained silent for a moment. Then the woman spoke up. "Should we get the video out?"

"Wut's uh vedyow?" Anna asked, her mouth full of sugared doughnut.

Instead of answering back, the leader took something out of his bag. Neither sister had any idea what it could be. It looked like a chunk of metal at first, but he soon flipped it open into two halves, with a black rectangle covering one. A button was pressed – some sort of drawer on the device flew open, and he placed an iridescent disc inside before closing it again.

Anna gave her sister a silent look, trying to see if she had any idea what was going on, but Elsa didn't have a clue, either. The man turned the device around so that the black rectangle faced the two of them. "With all respect, I believe this can explain it much better than any of us could."

Suddenly, the rectangle seemed to light up and glow a bright white. Moving images flickered on the screen, with such high quality that to the girls, they looked as if they were taken straight out of real life. Colors, music, and voices bombarded their senses.

A silvery blue castle came into view, then flying children, then pirates and exotic animals and tall mountains. Toys, delicious, things they'd never seen before or could even conceive of. And at the end of it all, fireworks lit a night sky as a man's voice accompanied crowds of grinning people. Then, as abruptly at it had began, the 'video' stopped.

Both girls were left speechless. Anna in particular had jaw drop wide open; Elsa pushed it back up for her, and they tried to regain enough composure to actually say something.

The woman smiled. "Well, what do you think?"

Elsa spoke up first. "T-That was very impressive." And she really meant it. It had been ages since she'd seen anything like that, having kept her self from watching any kingdom festivities from her window. Even inside her head, fear and despair had consumed her thoughts to the extent that for the longest time, her formerly active imagination had seemed dead…

"That was amazing!" Anna exclaimed, standing up in excitement. She, unlike her sister, always had to _over_use her imagination, never having anything else to do in the castle. To her, this was like a childhood dream being laid out in front of her. "When do we go?"

"If everything goes well, we can embark by tomorrow morning!" the leader answered. "From there, you'll be staying for about two weeks."

"Wait…two weeks?!" That was a long time to be away from Arendelle. She knew all too well what could happen to a kingdom in a few _days, _let alone two weeks. What if something happened while she was gone? She didn't have anyone to look over the kingdom if she did decide to leave… "With all due respect, sir, how am I supposed to find a substitute on such short notice?"

Anna took a second to think. "What about Kristoff?"

"Kristoff?" It was true that Anna's boyfriend was a dependable person, but… "He's still not used to being around people. Maybe some time in the future, but for now, I don't think he's ready for it."

Her sister pouted in response. She was sure he was more capable than Elsa thought… "Then who? There's no one else that close to us."

The queen thought hard about her options. Maybe she shouldn't go on this visit at all? But Anna was so excited about it, she didn't want to disappoint her. Without any viable candidates within Arendelle itself, she'd have to turn to an allied kingdom for help, as much as she hated to inconvenience them. "We'll contact our allies and our neighbors. Maybe someone from Denmark or Finland or Corona could find someone to help…"

"Ah! Corona! I'm glad you brought them up," the leader exclaimed. "The princess visits us often as well, you see."

"She does?" She vaguely remembered the princess; she'd attended the coronation with her husband. Had she really been talked into agreeing with these people? Well…she hadn't been too upset about the Freeze; in fact, she seemed to keep a cheerful disposition through the whole event, from what she saw. If she was really such an agreeable person, maybe arranging something between them wouldn't be much trouble after all.

Elsa smiled. "Then Corona it'll be. Still, it'll take a while to reach them…"

"Don't worry about it! We can take care of it," John suddenly said.

"What? Really?" She gave him a strange look. "How?"

"Uh…" he paused. "I-I'll explain it later. It's kinda…complicated."

She raised an eyebrow. Normally she'd be suspicious, but then, they did have that strange device from earlier. No telling what else they were carrying with them. "All right, then it's settled. We'll start off tomorrow morning."

She was surprised when her sister snuck up behind her with a hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" she squealed, leaping in the air and sending Elsa up with her. "I can't wait!"

Being gripped so tight was uncomfortable, but she couldn't help but laugh. "It's not a problem, Anna! I'm sure it'll be fun." At this point, she was starting to look forward to it, too. Maybe she could use a vacation, she told herself.

The group before them grinned. "We're very happy to know you're excited!" the leader remarked. "And we'd like to offer something to help you get ready." The woman handed over the machine from before, along with a case full of the discs they had used.

Anna took the case and flipped through it. "What are we supposed to do with these?" They sure were shiny… She held one up in the air and made the light reflect onto the walls, chuckling.

"They're movies," the woman explained with a smile. "They tell the stories of some of the people you'll meet at Disney World. There's quite a variety."

"Movies…" Elsa repeated the word. All these strange new things at once… "Thank you. We'll watch them when we have time. Anna, why don't you go put these somewhere safe?" she requested, handing the machine to her.

"Huh?" she mumbled, distracted by the shiny things. "Oh, right!" Without another moment to waste, she ran both items up to her room. Meanwhile, Queen Elsa led her visitors into the guest room.

What had they just agreed to again? There was so much information to take in, Elsa's head was spinning. But even if she had some doubts, it was too late to turn back now. She tried to remember the pictures she'd been shown – the fireworks, the castle, all the smiling people – and it made her feel a little better. This would be okay. As long as Anna was by her side, it would be okay.

Just then, Anna sprint back downstairs right in her path. Elsa stifled a laugh. "Anna, calm down! It's not until tomorrow!"

"I can't help it! I'm just so, so excited and…" Before she could finish her sentence, her foot took a wrong step and she found herself taking a nosedive onto the floor. "Whew… Okay, maybe I do need to calm down a little," she laughed.

Her sister offered her hand and pulled her back onto her feet. "You can be as excited as you want, just…don't hurt yourself," she said with a laugh.

"Of course not, Elsa," she assured her, a big smile on her face.

At that moment Gerda called everyone to dinner, and the girls walked happily to the table, still hand in hand.


	2. Getting Ready

Conversations over dinner had been…interesting, to say the least. Naturally, as soon as everybody was all together, Olaf couldn't contain his curiosity about what happened behind the closed doors of the conference room. And Anna couldn't help but blurt out the answer.

"We're going to America!" she exclaimed. "To Disney World!"

"What's a Disney World?" the snowman asked. "It sure sounds fun!"

She paused. "…You know, I'm not really sure. But I guess we're gonna find out!"

"Yay!"

"Yay!"

Both of them leapt in the air repeatedly, almost in sync with each other. Elsa almost wanted to join in, but…well, last time she had done that, she'd slipped on her own cape and got a pretty nasty welt on her head. She chuckled at the thought of being the clumsier sister for once. This icy dress did have its disadvantages. Besides that, there was something she needed to bring up…

"O-Olaf," she started, "I'm not sure I want you coming with us this time around."

The two of them stopped jumping – at the exact same time, no less. "Aw, why not?!" they whined in unison.

"I want just us two to go for the first visit. Just to make sure everything goes okay," she explained as nicely as she could.

Olaf's face drooped a bit. "Oh. I understand, Elsa."

"That's right! And Kristoff and Sven can keep you company." She sighed; maybe she was worrying too much? Still, it WAS their first time crossing the ocean. A terrible thought struck her. What was the weather going to be like? If they ended up falling to the same terrible fate as their parents, she didn't think she could forgive herself.

"Elsa? You okay?" Anna took her seat at the dining table next to her sister.

"Huh? Y-Yeah, I'll be fine." Calm down, Elsa, calm down! You don't wanna scare _her_, too. "I was just thinking about the trip there. I hope the skies are clear tomorrow."

She smiled. "Of course they'll be! They've been clear for the last few weeks, right?"

"That's what I'm worried about…it was like that too, w-when…" Elsa choked on the last words; she couldn't bring herself to continue.

At first Anna was confused, but then it dawned on her. She'd never really let herself move on until recently, had she? "Oh…Elsa…" Soon, Elsa was locked in a tight hug. "I know how you feel. But there's nothing to worry about. You could freeze the whole ocean if it ever came to that!"

The queen couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know about that."

"Well, I bet these guys have something that could help," she said, gesturing to the visitors toward the other end of the table. "Everything's gonna be just fine. You'll see." At that moment, the food was set on the table, and Anna dived her hands headfirst into a large platter of chicken drumsticks.

"Yeah…I guess you're right," she agreed as she filled her plate as well. The strength of Arendelle's fleet had increased threefold since the incident. There wasn't anything to warrant concern in her kingdom. On the contrary, all the things she was unsure of lied on the other side of the water…

Maybe now was the time to get more information. The three visitors were having a lively conversation amongst themselves, from the looks of it. She cleared her throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but is there anything else we should know before we leave tomorrow?"

The leader thought for a moment. "Everything you _need_ to know should be in the videos we gave you," he said. "Let's see…packing, food, health advisories… Oh, that's right!" He seemed to be more enthusiastic now. "I trust you've been practicing your magic frequently, your majesty? Because magic is something that's fairly common where we're going…"

Her eyes widened. There was a really a place like that?! She _had _started to wonder if she was the only one of her kind – after all, certain species seemed naturally bound to magic, but humans weren't one of those species. She'd reasoned maybe one or two other people like her existed somewhere, but a whole town of them? How was that even possible? "R-Really? Is that true?"

"I know it seems overwhelming now, but I assure you, it doesn't take very long to get used to it," the leader replied, as if he were reading her thoughts. "Still, there are some…incidents every now and then. Nothing that can't be cleaned up."

"All right, then…" _That _would've been nice to know earlier.

Anna grinned. "Elsa, that's gotta be so exciting for you!"

"To be honest, Anna, I'm not sure how to feel…" Was she excited? Maybe a little bit. But she was more nervous than anything. This was a whole community of people who've shared their powers with each other their entire lives. What would they think of her? Would she be up to their standards?

Anna, meanwhile, had different thoughts. Even though she was extremely happy for her sister, she figured she wouldn't make much of an impression in that sort of place. Should she try to find a way to stand out? Or maybe she should just lay low, try to do her own thing. After all, she didn't want to steal Elsa's spotlight, or be a bother to the others…

The rest of the dinner continued similarly. The sisters discussed their expectations for the trip, their plans, their confusions. Every once in a while, either one of them would stop to ask another question. It eventually got to the point where both parties had exchanged so much information that they were too confused to add anything else.

Still, most of the nerves had worn off for the time being. After all, dessert was chocolate mousse cake! Anna devoured two or three pieces, and, well, Elsa couldn't help having seconds, either. Before anyone knew it, the cake was totally gone.

As everyone's stomachs settled, a burp was heard. Everyone gave each other surprised glances from across the table, trying to figure out who did it. Finally, Anna realized…

"Oh…" Elsa muttered, realizing she'd been caught. "Erm…e-excuse me."

Anna burst out laughing. "Elsa!" Soon the visitors were laughing along, and eventually Elsa, too.

* * *

Night fell shortly after the meal. The castle's guests had decided to turn in early after such an exhausting trip. Elsa had said she planned on relaxing for a while, too. But Anna wouldn't stand for that! There was still so much they had to do!

Carefully, she removed the case of movies from the secret spot in her room. Said secret spot was under her bed – no one but her had tried to peek under there in ages. It was full of dust bunnies, old socks, dull pencils, crumpled up pieces of paper… Basically, things she dropped down there and forgot about over the years. But this was different, of course.

She took some time to examine the item more carefully. The black cloth case opened and closed with little teeth that were tied together by sliding a little handle. It made a funny zipping sound when it was slid. She opened and shut one side a few times, amusing herself with it.

Then she kept it open and looked closely at the discs. There wasn't as much light to reflect off them now, but it was still fun to look at her reflection in the mirror-like part. Every disc had a different title written on it with ink. She was surprised to recognize some of them – fairy tales like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty had always been her favorites as a kid! Others were completely unfamiliar. _Wreck-It Ralph? _What an odd name for a story.

Grabbing the video player, she ran to her sister's bedroom door, delivering the usual knock.

Elsa yawned, getting up from her bed. Anna never had any desire to settle down and relax, did she? A restless spirit, that's what she was. Sometimes she wished she could be like that. She opened the door. "Hi, Anna. What's going o – "

"MOVIE NIGHT!" She sprinted into the room, leaping on the bed with all the equipment in hand. "Come on, Elsa! We haven't even tried one of these out yet!"

She rolled her eyes, but she really was happy her sister had reminded her. She felt like so many things had slipped her mind, what with all the new information to take in. "You're right. Let me see that," she agreed.

She plopped onto the bed next to Anna, taking a look at the discs sprawled out around her. Nothing in particular really caught her eye… "Why don't you pick one first, Anna?"

"What? Really? Okay!" she replied excitedly. How was she going to choose? There were so many! "Um…eeney meeney miney mo…" She thought she had heard Elsa giggle at her, but she shrugged it off. "I choose…this one!"

Elsa looked at the title. "_Tangled. _Sounds good!" Now how did this machine work again? She pressed the button where she thought the slot was – and the container popped out! Thank goodness she'd remembered that. The last thing she needed right now was to break one of these. She inserted the disc and pushed the container back in.

The screen flickered to life with lush forest scenery. Anna shook her sister's shoulder. "Look, look! It's starting!" she squealed, her eyes wide with anticipation.

So the story began, a story about a magic flower and a queen who was deathly ill. And her daughter gained magical hair from her consuming it? This intrigued Elsa. Maybe she had received her own powers in a similar way? Though she had never read anything about a magical plant that she could think of – and she'd read a _lot _of books. Still, she guessed it wasn't _entirely _out of the question.

Such an idea didn't even occur to Anna, who quickly became absorbed in the story's events like she used to listen to her mother's bedtime stories. Soon, however, she realized that this story was a very recent one; in fact, it had gotten popular around the time of Elsa's coronation. Except the details seemed to change depending on who was telling it.

Then suddenly, she recognized a familiar face.

"That girl!" she exclaimed. "The princess! She was at the coronation, right?"

Elsa looked closely at the main character. She did look familiar… "I get what you mean. I've definitely seen that face before. But the hair…"

Well, that was true. The girl she'd seen had a totally different hairstyle. And color, for that matter. "Well…maybe she just wanted a change of pace!" She shrugged.

She chuckled. "Maybe, maybe." But then, her hair obviously wouldn't be magic anymore, right? There was a time when she would wish there was a way to get rid of her powers that easily. Or even for it to just be contained to one body part…

As the movie continued, both girls felt like they were being pulled through a labyrinth of emotions. Adventure, romance, tragedy… This was a tale that had just about everything, and the perfect pacing to pull it all off. Anna was much too engrossed to notice the frost that spread over the sheets and then retracted itself at irregular intervals. Elsa was barely aware of it, but just as she thought of stepping away and taking a breather, the story drew her in again and the cycle repeated itself.

The details seemed to sort themselves out toward the end. Anna was starting to look forward to meeting this person. "Rapunzel…" she muttered the word to herself. It was such a pretty name. Even if it was, well, a vegetable. Anna, on the other hand, was so common, and so boring!

And then finally, everything came to a close, and the screen went black again. The girls remained silent for a while.

"…That was _so amazing!_" Anna eventually blurted out!

Elsa beamed. "Yeah, you're right! That was wonderful."

"We gotta watch another one!" She started frantically digging through the movie case.

Her sister interrupted. "Hold on! I wanna pick the movie this time!"

And so movie night went on for hours, long after the stars in the sky had faded. Watching every single movie they had been given was impossible, unless they wanted to sacrifice any good night's sleep, but that didn't mean they couldn't fit as much as they could manage into the time they had.

Most of the princess stories had been romance-centric; Anna loved every one of them, but Elsa found herself getting tired of them after so many. Then there were ones about pets and forest animals. Most of them were a bit simpler, not that they minded much. Just being able to watch these 'movies' was enough. But later, they got into some more complex, even epic ones. _Bambi _had been the most emotional story yet. Both their hearts lurched as the hunter's gun was shot, and awful memories resurfaced. This time, Anna did notice a drop in temperature. _Elsa. _Was she going to be okay? There had to be some way she could make her feel better…

Suddenly, she had an idea. It was a while before Elsa noticed her sister piling up pillows and blankets around her.

"A-Anna, what are you doing?" she asked, trying to regain her composure.

She grinned. "Makin' a pillow fort, what else?"

A pillow fort. Elsa started to calm down, and let out a chuckle. She couldn't remember the last time they'd built one of those. "All right, let me help you with that." She tried to make the structure a little more stable.

Soon enough, the sisters were both snug in their improvised fort, almost feeling like they were five years old again. Anna let out a yawn.

"It's getting late," Elsa noted. But if she knew Anna, she knew that she wouldn't want the fun to end just yet. "We'll watch one more movie, and then we oughta rest up."

"Yeah, sure thing, sis…" Anna mumbled, already half asleep.

Elsa grabbed the first disc that came into her vision. _The Lion King. _Another one with animals? Not knowing what to expect, she put it into the player. Immediately a song that sounded like African chanting boomed from the speakers. Now _this _was something new! This time it was her who couldn't take her eyes off the screen.

Anna dozed off soon after. Pillow forts sure were comfy. As she slept, every story she had seen that night blended together without any real pattern or sequence, creating quite the incomprehensible dream. But Anna, being Anna, didn't see anything unusual about it. At least, she didn't, until all the castles and forests were practically buried in snow…

Slowly, her eyelids lifted. The room was snowing… With that, her eyes were wide open. "Elsa?!"

Her sister's face was soaked with tears, and a thick layer of frost covered up the screen. But there was still sound coming from the speakers. She tried her best to make it out…

"_No one ever means for these things to happen. But the king _is _dead. And if it weren't for you, he'd still be alive."_

"_What am I gonna do?"_

"_Run away, Simba. Run…run away and never return."_

She visibly drew back. Even to her, those words stung. Papa, Mama…and Elsa. She could only imagine how Elsa felt. No, she didn't have to imagine. The proof was right in front of her.

Elsa, overwhelmed at once by an outburst of emotion, suddenly felt a pair of arms tight around her.

"Anna…"

"Elsa, there's nothing to worry about." Now Anna was starting to tear up, and yet she smiled her best smile in spite of it. "I-I'm here now. You don't have to run away ever again, okay?"

Slowly, the queen managed a smile, and the snow started to decrease. "No. Of course not, Anna." She wrapped her arm around her back, and they watched the rest of the movie snuggled close together.

Anna never returned to her room that night. When the two of them woke up, they were still buried in pillows and blankets, their positions unchanged from the night before. The movie had ended hours ago.

* * *

Just a few minutes later, the servants woke up the girls to embark on their trip.

Elsa was still groggy from last night, but if Anna was tired at all, she didn't show it. She was up and getting ready the moment someone spoke up. But soon, she got stuck at her closet.

"What in the world should I wear?" she wondered, flipping through racks of dresses and skirts. Something this special needed an extra special outfit!

"Your companions said to dress lightly," Gerda piped in. "It's going to be very hot where you're going." She tried to recall what else they had said. There was quite a bit… "Oh, and you'll be doing a lot of walking! So try not to pick anything _too _nice."

Anna pouted. She had been looking forward to wearing something flashier than usual. Well, maybe another time. For now, she packed the lightest of her clothes, and decided to put on an aqua-colored dress that she hadn't worn in a while. Elsa chose to wear something more casual as well. Sure, she loved her ice dress and it would probably be more acceptable wear for a royal visit, but it wasn't exactly easy to move around in. Especially in those heels!

Breakfast was finished quickly, and trunks and suitcases were filled to the brim. The girls did their last minute checks, just in case they had forgotten anything.

"Hmm…I think we're all set!" Elsa finally confirmed. With that, they met up with the visitors, who led them to their ship.

Now that they got a closer look at it, it was so strangely decorated for a royal ship. The vessel was painted a bright blue, some parts even coated in _glitter. _True, she had quite the guilty pleasure for glitter herself, but on a ship?! She prayed the sun wouldn't be _too _bright, or they'd be blinding every other sea crew within a mile's radius. The sails were a darker blue, like the night sky, and prominently featured that strange symbol again. A few shields lined the flank of the vessel, but they bore insignia she'd never seen in her life. And lastly, there was an odd creature that she couldn't identify carved into the bowsprit. Maybe from one of the country's myths, she reasoned. That would be the most likely answer. But then, things had been anything but likely since yesterday.

Anna practically flew onto the boat's deck, and Elsa followed close behind. The boat shook with every piece of luggage that was loaded below. Was this really going to be safe? All that extra weight couldn't be a good thing…

Finally, it looked like everything was prepared for the journey. Both sisters' eyes widened with anticipation as the anchor was lifted. The waves slowly picked up the rest of the job, and the boat drifted away from its dock. Elsa gulped; this was it. No turning back now.

Minutes passed, and the kingdom of Arendelle grew further and further away from their vision. Elsa, trying to shake off her nerves, kept herself occupied with a few novels as the time slowly ticked on. Anna had tried too, even though she knew it wouldn't work – and what a surprise, it didn't. She only got through a few pages at a time before she got bored and looked for something else to distract herself with.

She had no idea the sea could be so _dull. _It always looked so pretty in pictures. But watching the waves move in the same pattern over and over again… It was driving her crazy! She groaned. "How much longer?!"

The woman smiled. "Don't worry. It should just be a few more minutes."

That made both girls turn their heads. "You're kidding, right?" Anna replied. "But Elsa said…"

"Well, this is a little different." She winked.

Just as they were trying to process the statement, the sky started to take on some…interesting colors. Not only blues and greens, but reds, yellows, pinks, purples, and all at once. It was starting to look like someone had fired chalk dust into the air.

"E-Elsa, what's going on?" Anna stammered nervously. But Elsa was just as baffled as she was, even dropping her book from her hands without a second thought. Maybe this really was a bad idea.

Their surroundings blurred, and a wave of dizziness gradually hit them. Anna covered her mouth. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"

Elsa immediately grabbed her sister and tried to soothe her of her nausea, even though she was experiencing the same sensation. What had she been thinking, allowing this?! Now she wasn't even sure they would survive it! _No…this'll be okay. Don't panic, don't panic… _Anna puked into the water below. Elsa was struggling as she felt ice spreading from the soles of her feet. _Don't! Panic!_

And then just as quickly as it started…it stopped.

The sky was clear and the seas calm, as if nothing had happened. The girls slowly regained their composure. "What in the world was_ that_?!" Elsa exclaimed, just barely containing her anger. How could they do that to her? How could they do that to her _sister_?

"Sorry about that. It's a spell we use to get here faster," the woman explained. "You get used to it the more you do it. Still, some people are more sensitive to it than others…"

She was about ready to freeze their feet to the deck right then and there, but Anna grabbed her shoulder. "Elsa, please calm down. I'm fine," she pleaded. "This is supposed to be our vacation time!

Elsa took a deep breath. She was right. She could get through this… "Sorry. I just got worried about you…"

"Hey, I've been through worse than this, right?" Anna smirked. Elsa's eyes became downcast. "W-Wait, hold on! I didn't mean because of _you_! I mean…what I put _myself _through…y'know, with Hans and the mountains and that river, and…w-what I'm trying to say is…"

"It's okay, Anna. I get it," she replied. There was still some lingering regret from what she had done. But Anna had moved on, so it was only fitting that she moved on, too. It was…a slow process, but she was getting there.

John interrupted. "Guys, come on already! We docked ages ago!"

"Oh!" Anna ran across the dock onto the grass where the visitors were already waiting, Elsa following behind her. Soon, though, the younger sister was starting to sweat, and stopped to catch her breath. "Whew! You weren't kidding when you said it was hot…"

"Do you need to cool down?" Elsa asked, prepared to pick up the breeze if she needed it.

"No thanks, sis. I'm fine. I just need to take a breather here." After a few seconds, she was her usual energetic self again. "So, this is the place, huh? Not exactly what I was expecting…"

"All the major attractions are a bit further up the way here," the leader explained. "Just follow our lead." The group started walking through the field, and the sisters followed.

It wasn't long before they started to make things out through the trees. There was some sort of lake on the horizon. Something that looked like a chalet lay on the coast, and so did…a track of stone? A train crossed the track. Both girls stopped for a second, stunned.

"Just a little further!" one of the visitors called out, and the group of travelers finally made their way out of the brush, and through a back door of the chalet.

Their eyes widened. Their castle in Arendelle had been very nice, but this place _screamed _luxury! Three or four chandeliers in the same room, a sunroof, gold statues… For a long time, the girls were speechless.

Another person in a fancy uniform came to greet them. "Ladies! Welcome to the Grand Floridian."


	3. Exploration

Hey guys, sorry it's been mostly fluff so far. I promise you'll see a little more ~DRAMA~ in the coming chapters. :3 Enjoy!

* * *

"The Grand Floridian…" Anna said to herself. "That sounds so fancy!"

"It is really nice," Elsa agreed.

The design of this place was really beautiful. It seemed subtly Baroque to Elsa, what with the whites and golds and reds everywhere, and the overall ornate feel. She'd seen paintings of palaces in France and Germany that looked like this. Of course, she'd never thought this sort of thing could be found so far from Europe, but then again…

Anna approached a fountain nearby, starting to splash her hands in the water. "It's just like home, isn't it? Only…not."

Elsa giggled. "Well, kind of… There are a lot more people, to be sure."

"Yeah, no kidding!" Their castle had been a bit more full since the gates were open, certainly, but she didn't think even the whole of Arendelle had this many residents. And even if they did, they weren't quite as diverse.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. "Why don't you freeze up the fountain like you do at home?" she suggested. "I bet they'd love that!"

"I-I don't know, Anna. I mean, we just got here." Considering how the people of Arendelle had initially reacted to her powers, she figured doing something like that out of the blue would be a bad idea. Especially since this was a hotter place. They probably weren't used to seeing ice of any kind.

"Aw, come on! It'll be fun!"

"No, Anna not right now!"

"But…"

"Um, excuse me." The employee cleared his throat.

"Oh!" Elsa turned around. "No, excuse us, please. Try to understand, m'am, this is all new to us," she said with a bow.

The worker laughed. "It's fine, it's fine! It happens all the time," she replied with a smile. "And please, call me Sydney. Now then, let me lead you to your room."

"Oh, yes! Of course." The girls followed Sydney down the halls, taking in every sight they passed along the way. Even though the place seemed built in a familiar style, everything else was so strange. The way people dressed, the things they carried around with them… As much as the two of them tried to blend in, it was obvious that they were garnering quite a bit of attention from passersby.

Finally, they came to an imposing set of metal doors. "Where do these go to?" Anna asked, tilting her head.

"This is an elevator. Your room's on the top floor, so it'll be easier to use this instead of taking the stairs," Sydney explained. She pressed a button decorated with an arrow pointing upwards, and with a _ding_, the doors suddenly opened by themselves, revealing a small compartment with chrome walls and tiled flooring.

Elsa was unsure of this, but she eventually entered the space, Anna following her not long after. There was an entire mess of buttons and numbers by the door, and neither of them knew which one was the correct one to push, but Sydney did it for them just as Anna was about to try one. At least _somebody _knew what they were doing around here.

The doors closed with a bang, and almost immediately the contraption started moving. They were surprised at the feeling of gravity pushing down on them. Elsa instinctively looked to Anna as a slight dizziness hit her. There was _no way _she'd let them get her sister sick again… "Can you slow it down?" she asked, a bit frantic.

"Don't worry! It'll be over in a second," the worker replied. And just as she said, the movement stopped and the doors opened again, to a completely different floor. The queen let out a sigh of relief, only to realize that Anna hadn't had a shred of worry on her face the whole time. _If only I could stay as calm as her, _she thought to herself.

"Oh, wow." Anna skipped out into the middle of the hallway. "That's a _lot _of rooms!" Elsa couldn't help but laugh at her sister stating something so obvious.

Sydney smiled. "This way, please."

"Oh! Right!" The princess ran following the employee, and even Elsa had to sprint a bit to keep up with them. Soon enough, they stopped at a door in the corner of the hall. Sydney turned the knob.

What a nice room it was, with two beds, a nice little desk, and elegant curtains draped over the window. It reminded them of how their rooms had looked as children; still a good deal smaller, but Elsa could tell they had put a lot of effort into all the coordination and decorating. There were some things that still seemed strange, but she could figure those out later.

Anna, meanwhile, was ecstatic. "Oh my gosh! It's so fancy!" she yelled, hopping onto a bed and squishing a pillow. "Come on, Elsa! These beds are sooooo comfy!"

"All right, all right! Hold on!" She noticed out of the corner of her eye that their luggage had already been delivered to the room. When had that happened? Well, no use in worrying about it now. She gave in and laid on the best next to her sister, immediately sinking into the fluffy mattress. "Wow, you're right! These really are soft."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourselves," Sydney interrupted. "Do you need help unpacking? Or maybe something to eat?"

"Hm? Oh, no thank you. We can take it from here." As much as she appreciated her servants, she'd been trying to branch out and assert her independence more in the past few months.

"All right! If you need anything, just call me." And Sydney let the two of them alone, the door drifting closed behind him.

Anna looked around the room, taking it all in. It was so beautiful! And there was a great view of the lake outside from the window. She saw something strange on the bedside table, and picked it up to examine it. It sure had a lot of buttons. Heck, _everything _here had a lot of buttons, it seemed. She pressed a whole bunch, trying to see what they did. Nothing happened until the big black thing in the front of the room suddenly flickered on.

"Oh! Movies!" she realized. Soon she figured out how to change the channel and how to turn the volume up and down.

Elsa rolled her eyes, but stifled a laugh. "Aren't you gonna help unpack, Anna?"

"…Hm? Oh, right!" She hopped off the bed and unpacked her things, glancing back up at the TV every few seconds. Elsa, though more focused on the task at hand, was a little interested, too. Still, what they were showing on this wasn't set up as well as the movies they had watched the night before. Something about two brothers on a ship.

To her surprise, everything was unpacked pretty quickly. And besides watching TV, the girls were left with nothing to do.

"This is…kinda boring," Anna remarked. "I thought this was supposed to be a fun vacation!"

"Well, I would think all the fun things are outside the room," Elsa suggested. Come to think of it, it wouldn't hurt to explore the place a bit. She'd felt a bit overwhelmed at first, but as long as they stayed in this building, there wouldn't be too much to take in, she figured. "So how about we walk around a little?"

Her sister smiled. "Sounds good to me!"

"All right, then!" They got up and walked down the hall together.

Strolling down the halls, tons of people walking around and chatting on the ground floor lobby were visible from the balcony. "There has to be something exciting going on down there," Anna thought out loud. "Elsa, let's check it out!"

"Um, sure!" she replied, facing the elevator before deciding it'd be safer to take the stairs down. Anna followed by her side. Seeing how nice the carpeted staircase was, Elsa thought that the staff there must've had to clean it almost every hour, considering how many people there were. But then, they'd all be using the 'elevator' instead, wouldn't they? Then it seemed pointless to have a staircase at all…

They found what was capturing everyone's attention: a small orchestra on the floor above. One could tell that the members had years of experience from the way they played. Elsa wondered if they performed here often. Even at home, hiring a band of any kind was something that was reserved for special occasions.

Suddenly she smelled something…something _delicious. _"Where is that coming from?" she said, looking around.

Anna looked through the lobby, when she spotted something. "It must be coming from that little café over there," she said, pointing. The smell was intoxicating. "God, I'm _starving._"

"Let's try to eat there. It is around lunch time." She rummaged through her handbag; would this cost extra? Usually the cost of meals was included with room and board at an inn, but the custom could be different here, especially with everything else being so _extravagant. _Still, she did quite a bit of money on her. They could probably pull it off.

Finding a vacant table proved to be difficult, but eventually they did find a place to sit down. This place emphasized pastels and floral designs more than the other parts of the venue, almost resembling a baby's nursery. Even surrounded by the chatter of the crowded tables around them, it was oddly peaceful…

A waiter immediately passed out menus to them. As the queen skimmed through the options, something dawned on her.

"Don't you think it's…strange?" she brought up to her sister.

She looked up. "Strange? What's strange?"

"Well, here we are in a foreign country, but everyone is speaking the same language as they do back home."

Anna blinked; she hadn't even given it a second thought. "Yeah, now that you mention it, that is weird." She tried to draw upon her limited knowledge of history. "Um…maybe people from Arendelle settled here? Like, years ago, I mean."

Elsa shook her head. "No, that can't be. Florida is Spanish territory. Or…_was._"

"I see…" she replied, trying her best to sound intelligent. But thinking about it too hard was giving her a headache. She quickly tried to change the subject. "So what do you think you're gonna order?"

"Well, I like the sound of this pasta. And maybe some French onion soup." So most of the food here was French? That just made things even _more _complicated!

"You know what? I think I'll try that, too!" her sister agreed, before her eyes drifted elsewhere on the menu. "Oh. My. Gosh. We _have _to get chocolate fondue for dessert!"

"Of course, of course!" she responded, nearly drooling at the thought of it herself. Still, a voice in the back of her head still expressed concern. How much was this all going to cost? She had no idea what the exchange rates were.

Nevertheless, they went ahead and ordered their food without any problems. Elsa took a moment to enjoy the atmosphere, taking a peek at the garden outside. But it wasn't long before Anna started up another conversation. There was already so much to talk about, and they hadn't even left the inn yet!

"I sure wish Kristoff and Olaf could see all this," Anna huffed.

"They can always come along next time," Elsa reassured her. "Besides, I don't know how they'd do in these crowds…"

She paused. "I guess you're right," she replied, giggling at the thought of Kristoff's baffled face.

The food arrived, and it was absolutely delicious. It was technically peasant's food, which neither of them were accustomed to, but it was great all the same. No one said a word for a long time, too busy enjoying the meal, yet their facial expressions were enough to communicate to each other.

They were both surprised at how much time had passed by the time they were finished. Elsa tracked down the waiter. "We'll have the bill now, please."

The waiter grinned. "I'm afraid I can't do that, your majesty. Your meal is free of charge."

"Wait, what?" Her eyes widened. She supposed she should've expected this, but it still felt wrong. "Look, there's no need to waive the cost for us. You've all worked very hard, and you deserve to be paid…"

"Sorry, it's manager's orders," he replied, shrugging.

She sighed. She _could _talk to the manager of this place, but then, she didn't want to make a scene. "Fine, but if he didn't say anything about a tip…" The queen left a generous little pile of coins on the table's edge.

The waiter's eyes widened. "_Wow. _Y-Your majesty, that's so generous of you!"

Elsa smiled. "It's not a problem, really."

The sisters left their table and took a seat back in the lobby. After a while, the older noticed Anna staring right at her, grinning from ear to ear. She raised an eyebrow. "What's with that look?"

Anna somehow smiled even wider. "Have I ever told you how great a queen you are?"

She blushed. "What…that back there? I-It's really not a big deal. Anyone else would've done the same thing…"

Before she could say any more, her sister had pulled her into another hug. "And so modest, too!" she gushed.

Elsa laughed. "Cut it out, Anna! You're embarrassing me," she said joking me.

The younger sister made a fake pout. "Oh, so your little sister is too much a nuisance for you, huh?" she teased.

"I never said that."

"I know, I know…" She finally let her sister go. "So what should we do next?"

"Hmm…" She observed at her surroundings. There were signs directing guests to a veranda, a swimming pool...ooh, and a _spa! _Maybe later, but not right now. Even if spas were supposed to be soothing, it still seemed like a bit much.

A loud noise came from nearby, startling them both. Unable to contain her curiosity as usual, Anna ran over to the source of the sound. Naturally, Elsa had no choice but to follow her there – not that she wasn't curious, either.

Another set of doors, these ones made of glass, opened themselves again. _I'm never gonna get used to that… _Elsa thought to herself. Anna didn't pay it any mind, just walking through. On the other side, the train from before was just leaving, making the same noise again. It glided on its track almost like…socks on a wood floor, Anna thought. How could they do that with a whole train? "That's so cool!"

"It's _loud_," Elsa added as the passing train blew her hair and skirt to the side.

"Yeah, that too." She'd never seen a train like this before. All the ones she knew about had been more smoky black things with gears, and not so much…glidey white things. A lot of people were waiting on the platform for the next one. "I wonder where this goes."

Her sister looked up and saw the timetable. She glanced at the clock; 12:30, it said. "It says the next one travels to…the Magic Kingdom." Was that where all the magic users lived?

"That sounds like fun!" Anna grinned.

"I don't know if I wanna go there just yet," Elsa responded. What other options were there? "But from there, apparently you can transfer to some place called Epcot."

"What's an Epcot?" she asked, tilting her head.

She shrugged. "You really expect me to know?"

"Well, yeah! You know, like, _everything_!"

Elsa laughed. "I'm just as clueless about this place as you are, Anna! Don't you remember?"

She paused. "Yeah, I guess that's true…" But she soon forgot about it as the next train pulled into the station. "You wanna try to go there, then?"

"Um, sure, I guess," she replied. The vehicle came in fast – so fast she wasn't sure when to go forward. But shortly after, the train did come to a stop, and both sisters headed for the turnstiles.

A guard stopped them. "Tickets, please?"

Tickets? "I don't think we have…" She glanced around; there wasn't a place to buy tickets anywhere nearby. "B-But we'd be happy to buy some. How much are they?" As she dug through her purse, her fingers grazed something that she knew wasn't there before. Confused, she pulled it out – and there were two cards, both with a picture of a castle in the clouds.

"There you go!" the guard said with a smile. "I knew you must've had some."

Elsa blinked. "You mean these are…"

"Ooh!" Anna immediately swiped a ticket from her sister's hand. Why would they make tickets out of something so hard? Wouldn't paper be easier to throw away?

"Now scan them right here, please."

"Hm?" The man gestured to a strange contraption attached to the turnstile. How was she supposed to put it in? Confused, she just reached her card out into that area, figuring she could find out as she went along. The contraption flashed red, and made a _beep, _startling her. Then the turnstile clicked. She pushed it a bit, and it moved just fine. "So…that's it?"

"That's it!" he grinned.

"Oh! Well, great!" And so she pushed her way through and practically skipped through the train doors. Elsa was starting to get a little edgy again around all this new technology, but she went ahead and followed her sister through anyway, finding a seat next to hers.

"That was…strange," she muttered, mostly to herself. Somehow those tickets had appeared out of nowhere – it was probably another spell. But did they all have to be such a big surprise? It'd at least help if they got some warning ahead of time…

"Sure, it's _strange_," Anna shrugged. "But isn't it _fun?_"

Elsa took a deep breath. "I guess so. You make it a lot more fun, Anna." She could still learn a thing or two from her. Keep on the bright side of things.

"Aww!" the princess blushed.

A person spoke up – but they couldn't tell from where. It sounded like this man was all around them. Maybe it was the captain? "_As you board, please move across your car to make room for everyone…_"

Almost on cue, a large group suddenly loaded itself inside, squishing both girls against the wall before they had even a second to prepare themselves. The car was quickly becoming crowded, and Elsa felt a bit claustrophobic. Why was this bothering her so much? She'd been around more people than this. Though not in such a small space…

"A-At least we got window seats," Anna mumbled, her face pushed up against the window – not because she was sightseeing, although she'd certainly do that anyway, but because it was the only place her head would fit.

Finally, the doors shut themselves, and the train quickly started its run. It was surprisingly quiet from the inside, considering how much noise it had made upon its arrival. The man over the speaker had called it a 'monorail.' Well, that made sense. One rail. Duh. How hadn't she figured that out sooner? Because everything else was so overwhelming, Elsa reminded herself. Maybe now she'd get some time to relax.

It wasn't long before some nice scenery started to show itself, and it _was _dazzling. Palm trees and tropical plants that the girls had only ever read about before were placed in every spare nook and cranny. All sorts of buildings surrounded the area, and none of them seemed to share a similar style. The kingdom architects must've been an eclectic bunch. But more spectacular sights were still ahead.

"Elsa! Look! Looklooklooklooklook!" A colorful setting came into full view as the monorail slowed to a stop. There was the grand castle they had learned about before. And even more – what looked like a fairground, a jungle, a small but neat looking village, at least two mountains, and structures neither of them could begin to name.

"Can you believe that?" Anna exclaimed. "They made a place that's almost every place at once!"

Elsa nodded, hiding her anxiety. "Must be the magic…" She had way more to live up to than she'd thought. Now what was she going to do?

Anna grinned. "Maybe they could teach you a thing or two, huh, Elsa?"

"I-I guess so." The idea of having to be guided along by someone she'd barely met embarrassed her, but it probably would help. Besides that, these people were creating mountains, rivers, rainforests out of practically nothing. Yet all she'd ever been able to do was make ice. Was it all based on the elements? Were there earth, plant, or water people, too? Questions continued to fill her mind even as the train moved on.

Anna couldn't help but notice her sister's change in behavior. "Hey, is everything okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah, I'm fine." Elsa lied through her teeth.

"That doesn't look fine to me," she replied, getting into her face. The older sister leaned back, but there wasn't much room to lean back. "Anna, stop…"

She smirked. "I can tell you're nervous. You always get like this when you're nervous."

After a moment of silence, she answered with a sigh. She was cornered now. "Yeah, I guess I am nervous."

"Nervous about what?"

"A-About _everything!_" she blurted out. Her gestures were starting to lose their subtlety. "I mean…all my life I thought I was the only one with powers, and then all of _this_ comes out at once! How am I supposed to respond to that? There could be people who have been doing spells for years and years, and… W-What if I'm not good enough for them? What if I've been doing something wrong this whole time without knowing it?"

She caught her breath. _That _had been more than she had expected to be able to say. Her seat was frosted over, and she thawed it as quickly as she could manage. Had she caused a spectacle? She took a quick look at the other passengers, but fortunately, they seemed preoccupied with their own conversations.

"Elsa…" Anna suddenly leapt over and caught Elsa in her arms, making the gap between seats even more scarce. "You are the most fantastic person at magic I know. You are the most fantastic _person _I know, period. I'm sure they'll love you as much as your own people do!"

She thought about it. "That's true, but…the people of Arendelle didn't know anything about magic. This is different."

"Well, maybe there'll be people who are better at it than you…although I _really _doubt it," she replied, muttering the last part under her breath. "But don't worry about that. You're Elsa, and that's all the reason anyone needs to like you."

The queen blushed. Even after things had improved so much, she still found herself stuck in the loop of putting on a false persona, pretending to be more dignified than she really felt herself to be. Old habits died hard, she supposed. And yet somehow, Anna had gotten so far just by being herself, ditzy moments and all. She couldn't imagine her any other way. It was about time she learned a thing or two from her sister.

She smiled. "You always know what to say."

"Really? I do?" she blinked. "'Cause honestly, I'm just making it up off the head most of the time."

Elsa laughed, and for a long moment, they just sat together, happy in each other's company.

_**BANG!**_

A huge jolt scared both of them, quickly refreezing both places where they sat. The girls heard startled screams and rushed, panicked conversations between the other passengers. The monorail had suddenly stopped. A voice started over the intercom, this time of someone different than before.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there has been an accident. Please calmly and slowly exit through the emergency doors directly above you. Do _not _rush, do _not _block the exits…"

"An accident?" This time, it was Anna who was worried for once. Had people gotten hurt? A moment after, someone managed to get the door on the ceiling opened, and everyone started climbing through. Anna started her way up first, then Elsa. It was tough in a skirt, but somehow they managed.

And that's when they saw in – in the car behind them, a giant hole the size of a human being burnt straight through, the metal scorched and awful fumes blowing along the track. The car's interior was almost totally destroyed. It was a horrific sight.

Both their eyes widened. Anna was the first to speak up. "W-What happened?"


	4. More to Learn

The one word that described their surroundings was panic. Passengers from the other cars were worrying amongst themselves as they tried to figure out what in the world had just happened, crowding the nearest platform. It was certainly lucky that they had evacuated so close to another station, since security and medical staff were able to arrive at the scene immediately.

Anna gaped at the sight. "What do we do?! We gotta help somehow…" She nearly tripped over her own skirt, but Elsa caught her just in time. "Sorry…" They climbed down to the platform and approached a security team investigating the damaged car. Anna spoke up. "Excuse me…"

The guard didn't even look up. "Everything's under control, just keep calm and another monorail…"

"But we wanna help!" she asserted, stomping her foot.

"We don't need…" Finally, he glanced away from his work. His eyes widened. "P-Princess Anna! I'm terribly sorry, your highness, I didn't mean…" He let out a sigh. "See, our team is specifically trained to deal with this sort of thing. I know you have good intentions, but there really isn't anything you could do that we haven't done already."

She frowned, looking more concerned now. "But there has to be something we can do."

The guard thought for a moment; his eyes surveyed the crowd behind them. "Well, since you're so willing, why don't you help calm down the Guests? Just talk to them, lighten the mood."

"Oh, okay! That sounds perfect!" she grinned. Something fizzed as the other workers inspected with their tools. "A-Are you sure you'll be okay over here?"

"Of course we are! We've been doing this for years!" Another shock went off. "Okay, so there are things we haven't had to deal with yet, but we can figure it out."

"Okay then! Have fun with…that!" She skipped into the crowd, wondering who she should talk to first. Elsa smiled, following right behind her. It'd be nice to get a chance to meet some new people.

Still, her sister was better at small talk than her, and got into some lively-looking conversations almost immediately. When the queen tried to bring up the nice weather or the scenery, on the other hand, all she got was awkward looks. Maybe she was too abrupt in changing the subject? That could be it. Or it could be that they recognized her. All the staff here did, but the customers (Or were they guests? That's what everyone called them.) she wasn't sure about. So she tried to let loose a bit more, come off as more casual…

All of a sudden, a small group of doctors and nurses rushed across the platform. She followed them, curious as to who could need medical help – especially since no one else seemed to have a scratch on them.

She gasped. There was a little girl, no older than six, and her arm was terribly burnt and peeling. Poor thing was crying hysterically, as much as her family tried to comfort her – and Anna along with them. How long had Anna been there trying to help? Now she felt bad for not finding out until now.

She pushed her way into the crowd. "Is everything okay?"

"Elsa! Thank god you're here!" Anna cried, pulling her in. "Here, you can help!"

She blinked. "I-I can try, but I'm still not really good with kids…"

"Oh, I'm sure you're better than you think," she laughed. "Besides, that's not what this is about. I bet you could cool her down and heal the burns!"

That was what this was about? What in the world was she thinking? "Anna, that's not how it works. You can't just _cool down _a burn…"

"Well, actually…" a doctor interrupted, "A bit of cool water can soothe the pain a bit. But anything colder than that will make it worse."

She thought it over. She wanted to do something for this girl so badly, but all she had to offer was ice – _pure _ice, and very _cold _ice. Wouldn't what she produced would be way too much? But then, she had done well refining her abilities lately. It would take a lot of effort, but she might be able to keep it low enough that it wouldn't hurt her.

"All right, I'll give it a shot." She slowly walked up to the girl, kneeling down and examining her arm. The child winced in pain. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Well, Elsa, aren't we off to a great start? She looked up and smiled at the girl, trying to reassure here.

Then she noticed something she hadn't before. That dress she was wearing – that was _her _dress. Well, obviously it wasn't really made of ice, but it was definitely meant to look like it. Was this kid one of the admirers she'd heard about? To think actually looked up to her so much that she even dressed like her… She was flattered, honored even. But now there was even more pressure. There was no way she could let her down.

She took a deep breath. Either this went well, or she'd have frostbite on top of everything. _Calm down, calm down…_ She tried to focus on setting a good example, giving this girl something she could aspire to. Slowly, she let out as little cold at once as she could manage. For a very long moment, everything was quiet. No one even said a word.

Finally, Elsa decided to speak up. "A-Are you feeling any better now?"

The girl nodded, and before she knew it, was hugging onto Elsa's leg. "Thank you."

She couldn't help but blush. "You're very welcome," she replied, smiling.

Anna beamed. "See? I told you you could do it. And look how happy she is!" Suddenly, an older girl ran up and hugged her too. This one was dressed like Anna, winter cape and all.

"Thank you so much for helping my sister!" she exclaimed.

"Oh! I-It was nothing, really," Elsa stammered, blushing even more. "I couldn't let a friend get hurt."

Both little girls were bouncing and squealing as the family was escorted away by the doctors. "Elsa helped, Mommy! She said I'm her friend!"

Anna laughed. "They're so cute!"

"Yeah," Elsa agreed. "They both remind me of you at that age."

"You think so?" She smiled at the memories of playing together. Though sometimes they got all jumbled up, and she didn't know why. "'Cause I think the one dressed me is more like you, actually. That…that's really weird, isn't it?"

"I guess it is kinda weird," she chuckled.

The princess shrugged. "Oh, well. As long as they're happy with it."

A sound like a strong wind interrupted their thoughts. Another monorail was coming up on the other platform. "I think this is the one we get on next," Elsa remarked.

"Oh, really? Okay then!" They made their way to the other side, although Anna noticed that some of the guards were giving them odd looks. The sisters took their seats inside, and the journey seemed to start all over again.

* * *

Luckily, their destination wasn't too far ahead. The train approached its station before they could even get a conversation going. Out of the windows, a bizarre sight greeted them.

"What is _that_?" Anna asked, staring at the enormous landmark.

"It's…a giant ball." At least, that was as much as Elsa figured. She'd never seen anything remotely like this in her life.

Anna nodded. "…Is it a building?"

"I have no idea."

They passed by many other parts of the park – an international lagoon of some sort, a race track, an aquarium, a collection of glass pyramids. The ball stood imposingly over all of it, visible from every angle the monorail traveled. Then finally, it came to a stop. And of course, their first activity of the day was to get a closer look at that…well, that_ thing_.

It wasn't exactly a ball. In fact, it seemed to be made up of tons of triangular panels. Elsa had read that such a thing was theoretically possible, but to have the skill and time to actually assemble it. "Wow…"

"It's _huge_!" Anna shouted out of nowhere.

Elsa laughed. "Yes, yes it is."

"What…what would you even call it? Is it like, a golf ball for giants?"

"Probably not."

"Then _what?!_"

"I don't know!" She looked and saw the sign on one of its pedestals. "I…guess it's called Spaceship Earth."

"A spaceship?" Anna's eyes widened. "_That _goes into space?!"

"I doubt it. But it does kinda look like a planet." Well, that was kind of stretching it. "A big, metal planet."

"Oh…" At first, she was a little disappointed. Surely something so big much have a more extravagant purpose! What was the point of having a big ball in the middle of everything if you weren't gonna do anything with it? But then, she noticed people walking inside.

"I wonder what's in there," she wondered to herself. She gripped Elsa's hand. "Why don't we find out?"

Elsa looked to the entrance. "There's a really long line to get in," she noticed.

"Well, if it's that long, there's gotta be something good inside!" Anna grinned.

She did have a point. "Okay, then let's try it!"

"Yay!" Both girls took their place at the back of the line. Even though it looked long, it moved forward surprisingly fast. The mural on the building ahead of them interested them. "So is that what space looks like?"

"Well, nobody really knows for sure," Elsa replied. Or did they? With so many people with such varying magical abilities, she supposed anything was possible. But then, everything they had seen here resembled industrial technology more than anything else. Especially in the mural itself. "I wonder what that strange machine could be."

"It probably is space. It has planets and everything," Anna said. Now she was even more excited to see what was inside, if just the mural was this pretty.

Through the doorway, there were a bunch of little cars going around in a circle. It was a pain to get into one when they never stopped for people to do so, but they did manage it eventually…although their legs felt cramped in the tiny compartment. Little movie screens were attached to the front, and there was one up on the ceiling that reflected them somehow. Anna waved at herself, and soon Elsa joined in.

In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded by hundreds of twinkling stars. A woman's voice surrounded them.

Beautifully arranged and exquisitely detailed scenes of the history of language and writing passed as the cars moved forward. The visuals were fantastic, and both sisters enjoyed that aspect. However, the narration quickly took on a didactic tone, and Anna found herself paying less and less attention to it. Elsa was a little better about listening to it, but she'd already read about these events in her study books a hundred times over.

Then came the history they _weren't _familiar with.

All the books and paintings that had been displayed before were gradually replaced by movie screens, televisions, things they hadn't seen before in their lives. They continued to get more and more confused, trying and failing to keep up with the ride's timeline. By the time the historical portion of the ride had come to a close, neither of them knew what to think. Their heads were spinning so much that they didn't even notice the screens on their car flicker back on.

"Elsa?" Anna finally uttered.

Elsa glanced to her sister. "Yes, Anna?"

"Are we in the future?"

She hesitated. "It's…possible. Uh…I think…" Was there really any better conclusion to come to? No, that was the only explanation for all this. "Yeah. I think so."

Another moment of silence. "Well, why didn't they tell us with to start with?" Anna huffed.

"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "Maybe they didn't want to scare us?" Even though finding out about it this way was a lot more unsettling.

"I guess that makes sense…" The ride ended soon after, and once the girls exited the building, the only thing they could bring themselves to do was plop themselves down on a bench.

"Well…" Anna started. "That was…was…"

Elsa tried to find the word for her. "Unexpected? Overwhelming? Absolutely incomprehensible?"

"Uh, actually, I think 'overwhelming' was it," she interrupted. "That sounds about right. Overwhelming…"

The older sister smiled. "You really seemed to be doing well up to now," she told her.

"Huh?" She tried to figure out what her sister was trying to say. "Well, of course! It was…confusing, but it was still really fun!"

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Elsa nodded.

"But you've been stressed out through this whole trip," Anna countered.

She paused. "That's…true. But I _am _enjoying it! I guess it's just in my nature to worry…a lot."

"Got that right," she snickered.

The queen rolled her eyes. How could they get back on track now? "Anyway, don't worry about me, really! What's important is that _you're _enjoying it," she said.

"I am," Anna replied, scooching a bit closer. "But how can I _not _worry about you? I'm your sister, it's my job!"

"No, it's _my _job," she argued, playfully elbowing her. Soon they were elbowing each other repeatedly, and they broke out into laughter. It was always easy to relieve some tension with a sister by your side, even in a setting as unfamiliar as this.

Anna let out a sigh of relief. "So, what should we do next?"

"Well…" What else was there to do around here? There were the interesting glass pyramids, though passersby didn't seem very interested in those, oddly enough. And then there was the aquarium. She couldn't help but smile at the cute pictures of fish that decorated the building. "What do you think about the aquarium, Anna?"

"Sounds good to me!" she grinned, springing onto her feet immediately.

* * *

The aquarium itself was on the small side, the rest taken up by a ride made to look like it was under the ocean, as well as a decent-sized gift shop. But however small it was, it was still new for them. Arendelle didn't have any aquariums of its own, though they've heard visitors talk excitedly about the ones in London. Most of the fish and sea animals were ones they had never seen before, so they were eager to learn as much about them as possible.

Then they moved on to other rides. There was a little dragon who sang a song about imagination – cute, certainly, but not as awe-inspiring as some of the other rides. Then they watched a pop-out movie about a group of aliens driving a spaceship. Why were so many things here about space? People from the future sure seemed to have a strange obsession with it. And then there were a few hands-on activities and exhibits around… They wanted to do a lot more, but soon the sun was starting to set.

Anna's stomach growled. "Hehe… It's been a while since we ate anything, huh?" she chuckled sheepishly.

"Then we should find somewhere to eat dinner," Elsa responded.

At this point, they had come to center of the park, where the futuristic setting transitioned into the internationally themed World Showcase. Unique smells from every restaurant assaulted their senses. "Oh my goooosh…" Anna mumbled, entranced by the aromas. "Which one do we choose?!"

Elsa looked at the guide map they had picked up earlier. "There's a place with Norwegian food," she remarked, happy to see something familiar.

"But we _always _have Norwegian food!" Anna whined. "We're in another country, for pete's sake. We should try something different!"

"Yeah, you're probably right." Time to look more closely at the map. "Let's see here. We've got Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Italian…"

Suddenly, Anna caught a whiff of something. _Chocolate. Cinnamon. Pastries! _Like a wolf on the hunt, she followed the smell, paying no notice to what was around her. Elsa didn't even notice until she looked up from her map. "A-Anna? Anna, wait up!"

She was surprised how difficult it was to catch up to her sister. "Anna, where are you going?"

"I smell something really, really good over there," she said, pointing ahead.

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Since when is your sense of smell that good?"

"Since about two minutes ago."

"All right then, if you say so…" She followed Anna for a while, hoping they'd end up finding something good to eat from this. And if not, at least they could enjoy the scenery. It was really set up well, how one 'country' seemed to transition seamlessly from the next. Thinking about it now, she couldn't recall a thing in this place that wasn't incredibly detailed, almost excessively so. When she thought of 'entertainers,' what usually came to mind was something a bit more...low-grade.

"There!" Anna shouted suddenly. She could see a bakery was just around the corner, and rushed inside. "Cookies!" she whispered excitedly.

Lined in glass display cases in front of them were all kinds of cookies, cakes, and pastries. Most of them had German names, but that didn't matter, since it was all stuff she recognized. They all looked so delicious, Anna had to keep herself from drooling. So many choices! Which one could she try first…?

"Anna, that's dessert, not dinner!" Elsa laughed. She agreed that the selection looked amazing, but she still felt a little guilty about eating so much chocolate fondue for lunch.

"So?" Anna pouted. "It's a vacation! We can do whatever we want!"

"But I thought you wanted to try something different," she smirked.

"Well…yeah, but…" She sighed. Maybe Elsa was right about this. "Fine, we can eat dinner somewhere else. As long as we come here after!"

She chuckled. "Sounds like a plan. Come on, there's another restaurant down the street." She led her sister to a nice café, where they could get something other than sweets. It was a fairly quiet place, unlike the larger restaurant across the plaza. This place was so crowded most of the time, and it was nice to find a space away from all the people for a little while.

The only other person eating at this establishment was a woman sitting in the corner by herself, captivated by the book she was holding to her face. Elsa certainly knew the feeling. In a moment, however, the girl looked up from her book and their eyes met. Elsa sheepishly looked away. How embarrassing to be caught staring… Wait, was she walking toward them? What was she going to say?!

The brunette smiled. "Hi! You must been Elsa."

Elsa hesitated. "Uh, y-yes, that's right." Wow, she really _was _popular here. Now that she got a closer look at this person, though, she did seem familiar…

"I thought so!" she said. "In that case, that must be…"

Anna turned around to face her, in the middle of chewing some potatoes. Her eyes lit up. "Belle!"

"Oh! Belle!" Now she remembered. From the _Beauty and the Beast _movie. She'd really enjoyed that one. "Sorry I didn't recognize you…"

"It's fine, really," she interrupted. "You'd be surprised how often it happens. It's not very often I go out here in something other than a ballgown, actually," she explained with a laugh.

"Oh, I see…" Walking around a place like this in a ballgown? She couldn't begin to imagine how inconvenient that must've been. There was a good reason her ice dress had as little _poof _to it as possible.

Anna butted into the conversation. "It must be really fun. Like, coming here all the time, I mean."

Belle nodded. "It's really a unique experience. Although it can be a little…chaotic sometimes." Just as she said that, a large group of very talkative people came through the door and took their seat. "There's so many people trying to have a good time, especially in the summer."

Elsa gave a tired chuckle. "I know what you mean."

She sat down at their table. Obviously, this conversation would go on for a while. "You haven't had any trouble, have you?"

"Oh, no! It's fine once you get used to it." That was a bit of a lie; she _really _wasn't used to it. But she was convinced she could handle it. The fewer people who were worrying about her, the better. "There was a bit of an incident on the…monorail, but that was the worst of it."

Her eyes widened. "You were there when that happened? To be honest, everyone's been talking about it. I usually don't pay attention to gossip, but this was _everywhere._ Is everybody okay?"

"Everybody's fine!" Anna piped up. "There was only the one girl who was hurt, but everyone else was totally fine."

Belle paused. "Only one person? Sounds like there was a problem with a spell…"

"S-Spell?" Elsa blinked.

"Well, everyone who works here has to know a few," she explained as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Someone probably set up a force field, and it just…didn't cover everything."

What were you supposed to say to that? "I see…" Their hosts had been right about there being incidents, then, but she didn't exactly think of second degree burns as something that was 'easy to clean up.'

Anna furrowed her brow in thought. Magic sure sounded tough, especially considering all the trouble Elsa had with it. Then there was the incident itself. "What do you think even happened?"

"Nobody seems to know," Belle remarked. "There have been theories. There was an accident a few decades ago that caused a car to catch fire, so I think it was just something like that. Then there are the stranger ideas." She chuckled, though she knew it was in poor taste, even if some of these ideas _were _really outlandish. "Some crazier people are blaming this on terrorists, but I really doubt it."

Anna cringed. Arendelle was lucky enough to not have any political trouble in its recent history, but she'd heard what happened in other countries… She also recalled how much more heavily guarded the kingdom had been since the incident with Hans.

Belle put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, don't be scared. Like I said, it's _very _unlikely."

The potential existence of a political opponent did worry Elsa, but something about this didn't sit right her. There was no way it could've just been a fire. There was a distinct _bang _the moment it had happened, and then any trace of it went away just as quickly. Some sort of bomb could do that, she supposed. Then again, Belle had said the monorail _could_, in fact, catch fire, so why wouldn't it have done so upon detonation? Her thoughts drifted back to the information they'd gotten before they departed on this trip. An alternate possibility soon occurred to her.

"Do you think…maybe the incident itself was also caused by magic?" she suggested.

They didn't know what to say at first. "I guess that's possible," Belle finally replied. "If that _is _true, I hope it really was an accident. There are some really frightening people around…"

The princess was quickly getting tired of talking about this. She shouldn't have been worrying right now - nobody should. Why were they busy thinking about scary things in a place like this? At this rate, the shops would close before they even had the chance to buy dessert. There had to be something else they could talk about…

And just like that, her distraction appeared. Unfortunately, it took the form of another _BANG_, scaring everyone at the table.

Belle was the first to calm down as multicolored lights shone through the windows. "Oh, whoops! It's just the fireworks." She got up out of her seat. "Come on, you _need _to see this! It's wonderful!"

Anna eagerly ran outside to see the spectacle – and so did Elsa, who had quietly been looking for a way out of that grim discussion as well. The fireworks were beautiful. All sorts of colors decorated the sky, and an illuminated globe was in the center of it all. For that moment, at least, there was nothing to worry about.

"Oh, and since you're here…" Belle pulled a fancy slip of paper out of her book. "Here, I'm supposed to give this to you."

"Oh, really? Thank you!" she exclaimed. A gift from Princess Belle! What could be better? Anna unfolded the paper. She could tell it was some sort of letter, but it was too dark to see the writing at this time of night. All the street lamps had been turned off for the fireworks, so as much as she hated to walk away from the show, she was forced to stand in the doorway of the bakery to read.

_Dear Princess Anna and Queen Elsa of Arendelle,_

_It is with great honor that we invite you to a special brunch tomorrow at Cinderella's Royal Table in the Magic Kingdom. Please arrive at 10 AM sharp. Formal dress will be supplied for you. We are so excited to meet you!_

_Sincerely,_

_Snow White_

_Cinderella_

_Aurora_

_Ariel_

_Belle…_

It went on like that for a while, all the princesses' signatures lined up one after the other. And with each one, Anna got more and more excited. By the time she got to the end, she was squealing with happiness. A real princess gathering! Sure, there had been other princesses at the coronation, but this was different. She'd be talking to the best of the best! She at least hoped they would like her... Not a lot of other princesses seemed to be fond of her.

"Anna?" Elsa strolled over. "What's gotten you so excited?"

"It…I…" Unable to form a coherent sentence, she just forced the invitation into her sister's hands. "Just read this!"

She skimmed over the writing. "Oh, wow! That sounds like fun," she remarked.

"I know, right?!"

She was surprised when Elsa hugged her. "I'm so glad you're having a good time."

Anna smiled. "This is the best vacation ever, sis! Thank you so much for letting us go!" Sure, the crowds were insane, and all this future technology was hard to grasp… But overall, this really _was _a fun place.

Elsa grinned. "It was nothing, really! I'm having fun, too."

The fireworks completely lit up the sky in a dazzling finale, and both girls looked out into the sky and wondered what might still await them.

Neither of them noticed a raven with plotting eyes watching them from above.


	5. Meeting the Princesses

Hi, guys! Sorry it's a few hours late today, but well, I still met my Wednesday deadline, so I'm satisfied. :P I'm really not gonna spoil anything for you guys, so quit asking for spoilers, 'kay? But to answer a few questions.

-Maleficent is DEFINITELY part of the happenings, but then, what kind of crossover would this be if there was only one villain involved?

-Ralph and Vanellope will play a big part later on (There will probably be shipping involved, does anyone have issues with that?)

-Besides Pixar, I don't plan on including any characters outside of the Animated Canon.

So. Enjoy!

* * *

The sun was especially bright this morning. Its rays shone right through the window and into Anna's face. That was the last thing she wanted right now. She groaned, ducking her head under the covers. _Morning already? _Why couldn't the sun let her sleep in a little longer? They had been out so late last night. Watching the fireworks, eating snacks (those _cookies!_), hanging out with Belle…

And then she remembered. The invitation. The brunch! THE BRUNCH! Suddenly she couldn't bring herself to sleep anymore. She peeked at the clock by the bedside. It was a weird clock that just showed numbers instead of having any hands. It was kinda hard to get used to. "7:45…" So early?! The brunch wasn't for two hours! She couldn't wait that long! What was she supposed to do until then?

With so much energy and nowhere to use it, she started to shake Elsa awake. "Psst! Elsa! Pssssssst!"

Elsa groggily turned over. "What is it…?"

"Elsa, I'm bored," she whined.

"And?"

"Wanna go do something fun?"

She yawned. "Like what? We can't get away with making a snowman in here…"

"Well, um…" She tapped her chin. "We could…go to the pool! Or the _spa! _Yeah, that would be fun."

A visit to the spa after the chaos that was yesterday did sound pleasant. She sat up and stretched, trying to wake herself up. "Okay then. Just let me get dressed and I'll…"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Who could it be this early?" Elsa wondered.

"I'll get it!" Anna exclaimed as she ran over and swung the door open. Standing there was Sydney, their guide from yesterday morning! "Oh! Hi, Sydney!" she smiled.

"Hello, your highness!" Sydney cheerfully replied. "I take it you're looking forward to your gathering with the other princesses tonight."

"Oh, you have no idea." She laughed. "So what cha here for?"

"We were just about to bring you down to pick out your outfits," she explained.

"Our outfits?" She squealed. "That's great! Come on, Elsa!" she said, grabbing her sister's hand.

Elsa hesitated. "Right now? I-In our pajamas?" She hadn't even gotten the chance to style her hair…

Sydney nodded. "That's totally fine!"

"Um, okay then." She still wished she had some time to straighten herself up a bit, but Anna was pulling her out the door and through the hallway before she could make a single move.

Down the elevator they went, through the lobby and across the street into another building next to the main one. The spa wasn't too far inside from the entrance. And it looked wonderful! Just peeking inside made Anna feel at peace. Elsa seemed to like it, too…though it was hard to tell, since she just woke up. But Sydney just kept on walking, and she had to follow. Obviously they weren't going to the spa today, then.

That was when she saw it: _Ivy Trellis Salon. _A beauty salon! That made a little more sense, she supposed. Maybe she could get hair done up all fancy like she did for the coronation. That'd be so cool!

Sydney led them into the salon, rushing them past other customers inside. Soon, the sisters were greeted by nothing but a very large, fancy pair of doors. If just the doors looked like that, something really special had to be inside.

"What do ya think is in there, Elsa?" Anna whispered.

Elsa tried to shake off her grogginess. Usually she was better about keeping alert… "Well, they did say they would have clothes for us," she guessed.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she agreed. That green dress from before had been absolutely _perfect_. Sure, trying on dresses was SUPER fun, but was there really one out there that could top that favorite?

Well…there was only one way to find out! Just as she was about to push the doors open, however, someone else opened them for her, and she fell face flat onto the floor.

Elsa ran up to help her up. "Woah! You all right?"

Getting back up and recovering from that fall was easy. "Yeah, I'm totally fine!" she smiled.

"Good," she chuckled, ruffling her sister's hair. She pushed her forward. "Now hurry up and pick something out!"

Anna gasped. She'd never seen so many dresses in one place in her entire life! Blue ones, pink ones, gold and silver ones, ones decked out in glitter and sequins… It was so much that she couldn't contain her excitement, and leapt into the air repeatedly. She could keep herself busy for hours in here!

Elsa laughed seeing her sister so ecstatic. Now she could have a little time to get herself ready, too. An employee approached her just as she was about to head to the restroom.

"Your majesty, are you sure you don't need anything?"

"No, thank you. I can take care of everything myself," she replied with a smile.

He gave her an odd look, but shrugged it off quickly. "Okay, if you say so…"

And with that, she calmly walked into the small bathroom. Finally, Elsa got a private space, where nobody could gawk at her. Now she could sort out exactly what she wanted to do for this outfit…

That time she had created her first ice dress had been one of the best moments of her life. To be her own queen, take on the world…at least, the world surrounding the North Mountain. Things had changed a lot since then, but she was still very fond of that creation. It felt like something that reflected her perfectly. But then, she _had _been wearing the same thing repeatedly for two months now. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to change things up today.

Ice crystals started to gather around her feet as she fleshed out the image in her mind. Maybe something a little easier to maneuver this time? Yes, maybe a slightly wider skirt. The slit from before had been convenient, but she knew if she was really active, it could also result in some parts of her being visible that she'd really rather not be visible. Something sleeveless would be cute, too! She hadn't tried that yet. Finish it off with a bit of layering…

In a little over a second, she was in a sparkling new gown that looked worthy of the fanciest of evening galas. Her hair and makeup magically fell into place as snowflakes spread through the air. _This should impress the others_, she thought to herself, although she still had her doubts.

With nothing else to do now, she stood outside the dressing room door and waited for Anna to finish up. Not surprisingly, it took her sister a lot longer to get ready. After all, she had to do things the non-magical way.

Finally, the princess twirled out in a lovely velveteen dress – something that looked a little more mature for her than usual, though maybe that was on purpose. Anna stopped being occupied with her own new look once she laid eyes on Elsa.

"Oh my gosh! You look_ gorgeous_!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms out to her. "This one's even better than the other one!"

Elsa laughed, blushing. Anna was always so enthusiastic with her compliments. "Thank you! You look great, too."

This time it was Anna's turn to blush. "Well, sure, but it's still nothing compared to how you look…"

"Anna, you're wonderful." She put a hand on her shoulder. "Besides, it'd be really weird if you tried to dress like me."

"Oh, would it?" She snickered imagining how awkward it would be if she were to do something like that. "I know, I know. I wouldn't wanna tread on your territory or anything."

"It's not that!" she exclaimed. It was only recently that she realized how hard on herself Anna could be. And she had thought she was the carefree one for all these years… "I mean, you have no reason to. You're fine just being Anna."

Anna smiled. "I just wish the rest of Arendelle thought that."

"The rest of Arendelle does," she reassured her. "Sure, I get more attention, but they _do _talk about you. And they all say good things."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes, of course! I wouldn't lie about something like this."

There was a long pause. For a moment, Elsa was worried her sister still didn't believe her, or worse, she'd offended her somehow. Or _both. _A breeze picked up around her. Was there anything she could say to make this better?

Then, before she even noticed it, Anna squeezed her arms around her tight. "W-Woah! Hold on!" she said, trying to catch her breath.

Anna even managed to pick her up and spin her around somehow. Had she learned that from Kristoff? She didn't know she was that strong. "You're the best, Elsa. You know that?" she said with the biggest smile on her face.

Elsa couldn't help but beam back. "No," she responded, pointing a finger at her sister's chest. "_You _are."

The girls were escorted to a private monorail car so they'd have plenty of room and their dresses wouldn't be squashed and wrinkled. After yesterday, the thought of being on the monorail at all was a little nerve-wracking. Still, they were in a good mood now, and that helped them keep calm. Besides, the trip was a lot shorter this time around. Their destination: the Magic Kingdom.

* * *

"Elsa, look at the castle!"

"Yes, Anna, I see it."

"It's really beautiful," Anna sighed dreamily. The silvers and golds and blues looked so pretty in the sunlight. She gasped to herself. "We should totally paint our castle in those colors!"

"You think so?" she laughed. "I don't know how the other people in the kingdom would feel about that."

"But then the castle would match the rest of you," she pointed out, gesturing to her dress.

"Hmm… Close, but not quite. It'd need a _lot _more glitter."

Anna giggled. "A _LOT _more glitter is right!"

"So, ready to go in?" Elsa asked.

"Of course!"

The main corridor of the castle was decorated with vividly colored pictures in mosaic tiles on the walls. The sisters soon recognized them as parts of the story of Cinderella. Unfortunately, they were escorted through the halls before they had much time to look at them any closer.

The first part of the place they passed seemed to be some sort of restaurant, or at least a banquet hall. People filled every table, and amazing smells wafted around just at face level. Whoever the cooks were here, they must've been really skilled! Not that their own cooks weren't great as well…

At last, they arrived to a private room with an especially large table – and said table was occupied by nearly every princess they had learned about in the previous days. There was Belle, and Rapunzel, Cinderella, Ariel, Tiana… Elsa's eyes were as wide as saucers, and Anna's jaw dropped wide open.

"Look! They're here!" one cried out.

"They're here, they're here!"

"Finally!"

Without warning, a bunch of them shot out of the seats and crowded around the sisters. While Anna was eager to join the group, Elsa backed against the wall. "One at a time, please!"

Seeing her sister's distress, Anna managed to get the girls to stay quiet. "Don't come on too hard, okay? She's still kinda nervous about this," she whispered.

"Aww!" Ariel made a worried pout. "Do you need some time by yourself first?"

"N-No, I'll be fine," she said, trying relaxing herself. "It just caught me off guard, is all."

Anna hugged Elsa's arm. "So where do we sit?" Aurora smiled and led them to their chairs.

Watching all the movies separately, you didn't quite get a full grasp of how colorful a group it was. Dresses from all sorts of different cultures were worn, in every color conceivable. And that wasn't saying anything about the variations in personality on display. Some chatting their lips off, others calmly responding to the conversation at hand, others still too occupied with other things to pay attention at all. Still, you got the feeling that these people had known each other for ages. How long would it take them to get to that point?

One of them clapped, and they immediately stopped talking. Cinderella started the discussions. "Well then, why don't you two introduce yourselves?"

A self-introduction, huh? Where to start? Anna spoke up before Elsa could sort it out.

"Well, uh, hi. I'm Anna. From Arendelle." Making this up as she went along was tougher than usual. For some reason, being around all these great people intimidated her a bit. "I've been here for two days now. And it's been a _lot _of fun! This place really seems HUGE! I sure hope I get to do everything that's here."

Snow White chuckled. "It takes a long time to do _everything,_" she explained.

"I know…" Anna pouted.

Elsa smirked. "Knowing you, I bet you could do it."

She laughed. "You think so? Then I'll make that my goal for the next few weeks," she said, pounding a fist on the table in her determination.

"That's an interesting goal," she remarked with a giggle.

Cinderella grinned; they seemed to get along really well. But they couldn't let conversation slow things down right now. "And how about your sister?"

"Okay…" Just do the same as Anna did. It can't be that hard… "I'm Elsa. I became queen of Arendelle fairly recently, and I think I've gotten adjusted to it." And what else? "Um… I have ice powers. I guess you might've already known that. Most people find out through word of mouth. It can get kind of awkward, but…" Great, now she was rambling. Focus, focus! "B-But anyway! I hope I can get to know you all well." And with that, she ran out of things to say. That was terrible, she thought to herself.

But the other princesses didn't seem to think anything of it. In fact, they seemed very enthusiastic once introductions came to a close. Elsa blushed with a smile; Anna was grinning from ear to ear. "You did great," she whispered into her sister's ear.

Elsa smiled more easily now. "Thanks. You did, too."

Merida suddenly learned forward. "Can ye show us a bit o' yer magic?"

She blinked. "Right now? Right…here?" she asked.

"Yes!" The others nodded.

"Well…okay then…." Part of her felt like this was a bad idea – after all, she'd been more cautious about using her powers in this Disney World place, and she didn't know how people would react. On the other hand, this group definitely had prior experience with magic. And they all seemed really friendly so far. It was worth a try.

Slowly, she let miniature flurries form in the palms of her hands. What could she do to impress them? There were always spirals and whirlwinds and fancy snowflakes that could create quite the spectacle. But then, this wasn't a very large room, and those kinds of things required a lot of space to pull off. If she was going to do something on a smaller scale, maybe a more practical trick would be best. But not TOO practical... Something decorative would be perfect!

From there, the remaining nerves were easy to shake off. She set a hand on the table, a large snowflake laying spreading outward. As she moved it upwards, a miniature fountain of ice formed itself effortlessly. Once the spell was finished, a magnificent centerpiece was left on the dining table.

At first, nobody said a word, though eyes were wide as saucers and mouths were gaping. Elsa tried not to worry. What were they thinking right now? It had gone well, hadn't it? Or would they have a negative reaction regardless? The silence became more awkward the longer it went on, but Elsa was too nervous to speak up. Then finally, something happened…

One of the princesses started applauding. Startled, Elsa turned toward the sound; it was Rapunzel. And one by one, the others joined in as well. Now the queen was blushing more than ever. Even Anna started shouting and cheering, making her crack up. "Th-Thank you," she managed to get out as she finished laughing.

"You're very welcome, Miss Elsa!" Cinderella grinned. What a unique addition she would be to the group. "I'm very curious now. What exactly is your story?"

"Story? My story?"

"Both of you," she replied. "Please, tell us everything you can remember."

"Everything?!" So she was supposed to blurt out her life story now? There were some painful memories that she wasn't sure she wanted to go into… "I wouldn't even know where to start," she admitted.

"We should start with your coronation," Anna suggested.

She looked at her sister. "Are you sure? There was a lot that happened before that, too."

"Well, we don't wanna bore 'em with that much detail," she explained. "To be honest, everything before the coronation is kind of a blur anyway."

Elsa's heart sank thinking of how miserable those days were. "Yeah…I guess we should start from my coronation, then." After all, she had just met these people; it would be awful if they had to be bombarded with everything this early on. Maybe when they got to know one another a little better, she'd feel more comfortable talking about it.

So the girls started to relay the day of the coronation and the events that followed, improvising off each other as they went along. At some point, a group of waiters waltzed their way into the room and served various meats, salads, and pastries to act as their brunch. The food was delicious, and that helped both of them stay cheerful. Nevertheless, emotional moments became more frequent as the story progressed…

Finally, they came to the climax. "And so I ran to her. I-It was really hard to run at that point. I don't know how I even managed," Anna recalled. Her hand was tight around Elsa's; she knew these memories were still painful for her. Every once in a while she had to glance over, just to make sure nothing was freezing over. Maybe she was underestimating her sister, but then, she needed to be ready if she needed her.

Every other princess was leaning in with anticipation. "And then?" Belle muttered.

She sighed. "I got there just in time, but…" She stopped; what was the best way to phrase it? She knew how she experienced it was different from what everyone else saw at that moment…

"She…froze," Elsa mustered the courage to continue. "Solid ice…"

A collective gasp filled the room. The queen's grip was starting to get colder now. Better hurry up to the happy ending now. "But then I unfroze, 'cause my act of love fixed everything! And Elsa unfroze Arendelle and everything was just fine. The end!" An awkward grin spread on her face. That had been really rushed, hadn't it? Still, she hoped it'd reduced the tension at least a little.

Aurora was the first to speak up. "That was a fantastic story!" Other princesses chimed in to agree. Soon everyone was raving so enthusiastically that the girls could barely hear themselves think.

Anna took the opportunity to have a more private conversation. "Hey, sis, everything okay?" she whispered.

Elsa made eye contact for the first time in a while. "Yeah, thanks, Anna," she smiled. "Don't feel like you have to rush it for me next time, okay? I need to learn to handle this eventually."

"Well, okay. If you really want me to." Maybe recently, she'd become _over_sensitive to Elsa's concerns. She'd made such an effort to improve with all the awful selfish things she did before, but was she too far on the other end of the spectrum now? Was she starting to be overbearing? Though she guessed now wasn't the time to be thinking too hard about it.

It seemed like an eternity before the constant chatter finally died down. It was amazing how these people could go from rowdy to calm and poised in seconds flat.

"I think that's everything we need to know?" Snow White started.

Cinderella nodded. "That's just about everything."

"Everything for what?" Elsa interrupted.

Their smiles widened. "Anna and Elsa…" she continued. "We would be honored if you both agreed to join the Disney Princesses."

"Disney Princesses?" Anna repeated. "What does that mean?"

Rapunzel spoke up this time. She had been one of the quieter ones through this whole thing, and Anna was happy to finally get to hear her. "Basically, it means you get to be part of our little group," she explained with a cute smile. "And have tea parties and go to dances…"

"Ooh, that sounds fun!" Anna remarked, doing a little clap.

She paused. "Well…it's not _all _fun. There's some work, too."

"Oh…" That was a little disappointing, but then, she should've seen it coming. "Well, then what kind of work?"

"Mostly meeting guests. Especially the children!" Ariel piped in. "But besides that, there's acting in plays and being in parades. It's all really fun, actually! At, least, I think so."

"Woah!" That hadn't been what she was expecting when she heard 'work.' She bounced in her seat. "That sounds even funner…er…more fun."

"It does sound nice," Elsa agreed. Though she still found herself getting nervous at public appearances, and this place had many, many more people than Arendelle. And then, of course, they were only going to be here for two weeks. How frequent were these visits going to be? "Um, how often will we have to do these things?" she asked.

"Pretty whenever you'd like…more or less," Cinderella answered. "The event organizers can get really demanding around major holidays, but you do learn not to pay any attention to them. If any of us aren't participating, they can get substitutes easily."

"I see…" So it wouldn't be a major obstacle to running the kingdom. Then there weren't any problems left to discuss, were there? "I think that sounds fine," she finally concluded. Anna squealed.

"Then we welcome you!" And suddenly, the princesses were crowding around them again. Elsa was feeling claustrophobic. "Um, _please _back up just a little bit…" And when they failed to do so, she backed up herself.

It was at that moment that she felt something tug on her cape. She jumped, thinking one of the girls had stepped on it…but there was nobody there, just the wall. _Gosh, Elsa, quit being so paranoid. _She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down…

When something pulled on her cape again. She took another quick glance back, and there was still nobody there…at least, that's what it looked like at first. Soon she noticed the shadows on the wall were in a strange shape, almost like somebody _was _there to cast it. But of course, there wasn't…

She heard someone mutter, "Oh no…"

The _thing _pulled harder. She gasped; no matter how hard she tugged back, it wouldn't let go. Soon another grabbed her skirt, and another pulled her braid hard. At this point she was freaking out, and ice was splaying everywhere, but even as the walls froze over it had no effect on the creatures.

Anna tried to grab her sister, but the shadows threatened to lash out at her as well. "What's going on?!"

"The shadow man…" Tiana thrust a candle out from off the table, repelling the creatures with a shriek. Anna cringed at the sound. She remembered now, the man who controlled voodoo spirits. It was all so much scarier in real life.

At that moment, Elsa was freed, and took the time to catch her breath. She sure looked worn out… "A-Are you okay, sis?" Anna stuttered.

"Yeah…I'm fine…" she replied in between breaths, letting her ice dissipate.

Everyone in the room was on edge now. "Do you think they'll come back?" Snow White worried.

"Not if we can help it," Tiana answered. "Everybody get extra candles, just in case he tries something again." With that, she flicked a light switch and the once dim room was brightened significantly. Anna shielded her eyes. "Wow! That is _bright!_"

"Better than the shadows bein' able to lurk around." The candles the others brought soon removed any remaining dark spaces from the area. "There have been strange things goin' on lately. First the monorail, now this…and rides have been breakin' all over!"

"Really?" Anna's eyes widened.

"I-Is there anything we can to do help?" Elsa asked. "I really owe you one for saving me."

The princess paused to think of what they could do, but nothing came to mind. "If they targeted you just now, no doubt they'll try again," she concluded. "The best thing you can do right now is stay on your toes. And try to keep on the low down. If you stick out too much, they'll have no trouble finding you."

"All right, that sounds reasonable," she agreed, although in her head she was worried sick. They'd come here to relax and let some fun, and now they were possibly in danger? Some vacation this was! But when she looked back at Anna, she seemed to calm down quickly, so maybe it wouldn't be too big of a problem. She'd just have to find a way to calm down, too. But how could she, when one of those _things _could be hiding around any corner to try and swipe her again? The other princesses seemed to wander off to recover from the incident , but she was too deep in thought to leave her spot against the wall.

"Elsa?" Anna asked. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Huh?" She looked over. "Yes, I'm fine, really. Just a little on edge, maybe…"

"I know! That was so creepy…" She felt bad that she couldn't help more. But if even Elsa couldn't fight them, those were standards nobody could meet anyway. "But everyone here seems like they know what they're doing," she remarked. "Besides, if it was a surprise this time, they'll know to keep on the lookout from now on."

Elsa paused. "That's true. For the most part." Hadn't that one man messed up the force field? She certainly hoped mistakes like that didn't happen often.

Her sister put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't let it get to you, okay? It's so nice out! The sun is calling us! 'Come plaaaay,' it says. 'Come have some fuuuun!'"

She laughed, then thought for a moment. It was nice now, that much was true, but it wouldn't be so bright later in the day. "We need to buy extra candles for when night falls," she ordered. "Just in case."

"Of course, of course!" How many candles were they gonna need, anyhow? She had wanted to buy herself some souvenirs, and everything seemed so expensive here. And they couldn't carry those around in the rides… "But I don't know how long those'll last."

"Enough to last through the night should be fine," she clarified.

"Oh, okay!"

"And I promise, I won't be paranoid the whole day," she assured Anna. Whether that was a promise she could actually keep, she wasn't entirely sure. But she had to give it a try.

Anna smirked. "Are you _sure_?"

"I'm sure!" she answered with an eyeroll.

"Then let's go! Come on!" She grabbed her sister's hand, and before she knew it, they were outside the castle entrance again, prepared to spend the day having a blast – even if they _were _still in their gowns and heels...


	6. A Kingdom Quartet

Well, this is my first late chapter! It's half past midnight on Thursday as I'm posting this. It's been a buuuusy busy week. This chapter is quite a bit shorter than the others... Do you guys think I should add more?

I'm trying to give each princess a little 'moment' in the story, and that includes Poca and Mulan. Still, it's hard when there's already so many characters I want to include. I feel like I'm starting to lose track. XD

This will NOT be the only chapter in the Magic Kingdom, so don't worry if your favorite thing didn't show up this time around. Enjoy, folks!

* * *

Midday at the Magic Kingdom was always hectic, especially on a day as nice as this. So it was no surprise that the crowds filling every walkway were a bit overwhelming for Anna and Elsa. You could barely push your way through to the other side of the road, much less reach any of the rides…at least, that's what it felt like. Truthfully, their big fancy dresses had a lot to do with it, even as much as they were squished between people. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea…

It wasn't long before they bumped into someone familiar. "Rapunzel!" Anna exclaimed.

The brunette waved. "Oh, hi, you guys! Long time no see, huh?" she said with a giggle.

"What, you mean like, since fifteen minutes ago?" Anna replied.

"Exactly!" They both shared a laugh. Elsa rolled her eyes at her sister's weird sense of humor. What was the punchline even supposed to be?

At the same time, Merida waltzed over, busy stuffing her face with a caramel apple. "Wll, fncy sehn' yu tuh hur!" she remarked, her mouth still full.

Both sisters gave her a puzzled look. Realizing they probably couldn't understand a word she was saying, she swallowed her food. "Um, pardon?" Elsa asked.

"Oh…" Realizing they couldn't understand a word she was saying, she swallowed her food. "What are yew two doin' walkin' around the park after all that? Especially in _that_ garb," she said, indicating their gowns.

"Ehe…" Anna grinned sheepishly. Yeah, definitely a bad idea. She needed to make a note of that for next time. "We were just so excited to look around that we didn't have time to change," she explained.

"Really? I would think yer sister was smar'er than that," she smirked.

"Excuse me?" Elsa exclaimed, her defensive instinct boiling up feeling she and Anna had just been insulted. Anna looked away. "Okay, okay. So maybe that was just me…" she admitted.

"Merida…" Rapunzel sighed.

"Oh, come on! It was just a joke!"

"I know, but I don't think they took it that way."

"Really?" It was only now that she noticed their uncomfortable expressions. She'd done it again… "Oh…I-I'm sorry girls. I didn't mean ta offend ye. No hard feelin's?" she asked, holding out a hand to shake.

Anna shook without a second thought. "No, it's fine! I totally get what you're saying." Those words did hurt, but it was true that she could be a huge ditz sometimes. No reason to let that get in the way of a new friendship.

Elsa was a bit more reluctant to let that slide, but considering her own lackluster social skills, she did sympathize with Merida. She returned the handshake as well. "No hard feelings, Merida," she responded.

"Great!" she exclaimed with a grin. She looked around at the shops lining the streets. "So…since we're here, why don't we find ye somethin' more comfor'ble ta wear?" she proposed.

Anna thought. "Sure, we could do that! What do you think, sis?"

"I don't know, Anna. The food yesterday cost a lot…" She felt her way through her purse, checking out how much money she had left. True, it was technically only tipping, but this whole 'free meals' thing still felt horribly awkward. At this rate, they wouldn't have enough on the budget to last the next few days, much less the entire two weeks.

Rapunzel pulled out a bag of her own. "Don't worry! We can split the costs."

Elsa's expression grew increasingly worried. "A-Are you sure? You really don't have to do that just for us."

She laughed. "You need to get used to it. It's kinda just what people do here," she exclaimed.

Though she was still hesitant to accept, she had to admit it was getting frustrating going through these arguments every time the subject of money came up. Maybe now was the time to let it go…so to speak, she thought to herself. "Well, if you're that willing, I guess it's okay…" she said with slightly nervous smile.

Anna smiled. Everybody here was so nice! "What kinds of clothes do they have here?" she asked.

"All kinds! Come on, I'll show you!" She excitedly led them to a nearby souvenir shop, one that was decorated rather cutely. This part of the 'kingdom' seemed to have a Germanic feel to it, though with almost a carnival-esque atmosphere. It was so easy to get caught up in the excitement of it.

Once they got to the clothing section, however, it got a bit more uncomfortable. "These are their…clothes?" Anna wondered, examining a pair of _very _short shorts hanging from one of the racks. This was normal here? Showing anything from the knees up in Arendelle would get you dirty looks from the townspeople, nevermind something like this! Not to mention there were only baggy pants on sale – no skirts to speak of.

"I know it doesn't seem like much, but it's a lot easier ta move around in," Merida told them.

"I would figure as much," Elsa answered. Hence the way her dress had been designed. "Still, isn't it a little…"

"Embarrassing?" Anna continued, looking completely baffled.

"Not when everyone else is wearing the same thing," Rapunzel shrugged.

It was true, every pedestrian they came across was wearing something just as loose and casual. Even if wearing these felt odd, nobody besides themselves would notice the difference. If that was the case, there was no reason to let a bit of culture shock get the better of them. When in Rome, right?

"I guess it's worth a shot," Anna decided, and as soon as the purchase was made, the sisters went to the restrooms to change. The transition was easy for Elsa, since her gown could disappear in the blink of an eye. Anna, on the other hand… She had to admit, this outfit _was _very comfy. And there was no way a basic shirt, tiny shorts, and cheap sandals could absorb much heat. It was only at the last minute that she realized there was nothing she could do with her fancy dress now. But she couldn't drag it around all day! That'd be such a pain! Not to mention, well, it was a very nice dress and all.

Somehow she managed to fold it up and stuff it in their shopping bag, though there was nothing that could tone down the material's bulkiness. At least with something so heavy, she wouldn't absent-mindedly leave it somewhere and forget to pick it up again. Hopefully.

She stumbled out of the bathroom stall, nearly tripping over her sandals more than once, only to find that Elsa had already been waiting outside with the others for quite a while. "Whoops. Guess I took a teeny bit too long."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Rapunzel assured. "It looks like it fits well!"

"It does?" Was this what a good fit was here? Everything was on the baggy side. But then again, not everyone could have their clothes custom tailored, she reminded herself. "Oh, I guess it does," she realized, getting comfortable enough to show off the ensemble a bit.

"What are you now, a fashion model?" Elsa joked with a chuckle.

"They are really nice clothes. Once you get used to 'em," she remarked. Not having the tights and bloomers and petticoats to worry about…

"Oh, really?" There was a certain appeal to this kind of outfit. In a silly mood now, she started making flamboyant poses alongside her sister. Rapunzel laughed and joined in the fun.

Merida rolled her eyes. "The clothes aren't even that fancy! Yew could get the same thing anywhere!"

"But it's still fun," Anna countered.

The redhead could only huff and wait for them to get done with their weird little game, which only lasted about a minute longer. Then they finally went to do things that actually WERE 'fun.'

There were a lot of rides around the area; most of them seemed to be based on a lot of the movies, although there were a few unique ones among them. Rapunzel aned Merida were careful in showing the girls the best of the best. Anna especially liked the one about the Little Mermaid, althoug she wished it could be longer. There were so many good parts they had skipped. Elsa, on the other hand, preferred the one with the singing little children, although she couldn't quite decide why. It was very…childish, and cutesy, but maybe the sincerity of it was what she admired. Normally, with international relations, every party was hiding some sort of ulterior motive.

Then there were the other sections of the kingdom. One that was supposed to seem like the future (But weren't they already in the future? The more Anna tried to wrap her head around the concept, the more it confused her.), and two or three that were meant to replicate different time periods in America's history. They were both learning a lot, but it was all so much to take in.

Finally, the group decided to take a moment to rest. "Whew…that was amazing!" Anna exclaimed as she plopped down onto a bench.

"Which part?" Rapunzel asked.

She thought for a moment. "All of it," she concluded with a nod.

"Agreed." All four of them sat down and relaxed, taking in the sights, recalling the afternoon's events with one another. "What part was your favorite, Elsa?" Anna asked her sister.

"Hm…" That was a tough question. What was the best out of everything? There was a lot to consider. "I think I have to say…just the atmosphere of the place," she finally answered.

"Really?" She blinked. "You said you didn't like the crowds."

"That's…still true." There were so many things they had to skip because the length of the lines was so _ridiculous_, and that was a disappointment. But even the less popular offerings were worth checking out. "But everything else makes up for it."

"It's some adventure," Merida laughed.

Elsa smiled. "That sounds about right!"

Meanwhile, Rapunzel's eyes were turned to the castle not too far away. It looked like she was waiting for something – and so was everybody else, judging from the crowd that had started to form around the front. Anna noticed the commotion. "What's going on over there?"

"They have a show on the castle stage a few times a day," Rapunzel explained. "I think Aurora's gonna be in this one today!"

"Oh, really?" That certainly helped Anna regain her energy. She sprung back onto her feet. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's watch it!"

Elsa got up as well; this all sounded very interesting. Before any of them noticed it, Merida had taken the lead. "We better hurry! I know the best spot to watch the show," she ordered, rushing everyone to a spot right in front of the rest of the audience. For a while, the only sound was the chattering of passersby, and there was no sign of a show even being there…until the music abruptly started.

An unusual creature waltzed on the stage. Elsa had seen something like this before, hadn't she? Carved into the boat the other day. And on the lampposts, and the guideposts, and the dishes, and the _food_, and the _floor paneling_… Pretty much everywhere. Whatever it was, they sure held it in high regard. Though this one didn't seem to be the same as the other. From the dress and bow, it was pretty obvious it was meant to be a girl. And its name was…Minnie. Minnie? Such a bland name for something so significant. Then again, she could be named after the goddess Minerva.

Then came a bird creature – Donald - and a…dog? Goofy. _It does look goofy, _she thought, stifling a laugh. She felt bad immediately after, though; after all, she didn't want to disrespect this place's culture. But looking around, a lot of other people seemed to be laughing, too. So they were _supposed _to be funny, then. She couldn't help but feel relieved that she didn't have to worry about enjoying it the 'proper' way.

Finally, another creature arrived – and the audience cheered wildly. Mickey, was his name. That was even worse than Minnie…but then, if anyone else had an issue with the names, they certainly didn't show it. On with the show, then.

Apparently these four characters were having a party at the castle. Soon the subject of their conversation turned to dreams, and out of nowhere they turned to the audience and asked what 'their' dreams were. An interactive show? That was interesting. Getting caught up in the crowd's enthusiasm, Anna shouted out her answer along with them. Elsa giggled, but Merida burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing she'd ever seen. That made Anna a little embarrassed…but her sister was quick to send her a comforting smile.

The princesses made their appearances shortly after – Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora. Well, that was definitely Aurora, but the other two seemed to be actors. Rapunzel and Merida let out a loud cheer in support of their fellow princess; the blonde looked over and waved gracefully. A ballroom-esque dance sequence started. You could tell they'd went through the steps countless times before.

The thrill died down a bit after the princesses stepped out of the picture. There was a sword fight between a boy and some pirates; this was one of the movies they'd hadn't gone around to watching, so any knowledge they had of these people was taken from the very short ride they'd boarded earlier. It was still exciting, of course…just also confusing. But as the show reached its climax, a figure they _did _recognize appeared.

"I-It's Maleficent," Anna mumbled as the 'fairy' appeared in a burst of fire. The effects were magnificent; even Elsa impulsively drew back from the heat. Besides Maleficent just being there, nothing terrible was really happening on-stage. But in contrast to the posture of the other actresses, Aurora seemed to have a hint of genuine fear on her face. It made sense, what with all that had happened between them…

"Is she okay?" Anna whispered to the others, getting worried for her.

Merida's expression turned serious for a moment. "Maleficent really holds a grudge, I hear. Never really leaves 'er alone…"

"That's terrible…" The idea of constantly being followed by someone who hated your guts, and would probably kill you if the chance ever came, it was horrific. She realized how lucky she'd been than Hans was a regular person and not a fairy, or an evil sorcerer of some kind. She'd been through a lot, that was true, but every other princess seemed to top it.

The suddenly, she heard a yelp. She let herself turn away from the stage. "Elsa?!"

Somehow Elsa had fallen face first onto the pavement. But before she or the others could even make a move to help, something pulled her away! Anna was left speechless, until she noticed something clawing at her sister's leg…

"The shadows!" Rapunzel shouted, and she and Merida pushed their way through the crowd immediately. Not the shadows again…! Even though Anna got a slow start, in a few seconds she was running faster than either of them. Her sister looked horrible, her whole body scraped up from being dragged against the asphalt. To make things worse, somehow they'd gotten into an area where no other people were around to help…

Elsa had given up struggling at this point, since doing so only seemed to worsen her injuries. Besides, ice formed in a trail wherever she was pulled, and that didn't hurt her as much. Soon the group had caught up enough for her to notice, and she struggled to keep her head up. "Anna…"

"Elsa! Grab on!" she yelled, reaching her arm out to her as far as she could manage.

The older sister stretched her arm even further, if such a thing was even possible. Just when she felt like she'd dislocate her shoulder, she managed to latch onto Anna's grip. "I've got it!"

Anna grinned with relief, and immediately started tugging Elsa back to safety…only to feel something pull on her as well? "What? No! No!" Even as she pulled away from one shadow, another would grab somewhere else. Keeping her grasp on Elsa's hand was getting harder and harder.

The two others were left with no way to help, when Merida heard a faint noise. Acting on her gut, she fired an arrow in its direction. A low grunt was heard, and suddenly the shadows faded.

"Elsa!" Anna rushed to help her sister up, though she had to slow down because of her wounds. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay," she replied, though her knees and arms were scraped bloody. She didn't recognize where they were, but somehow they'd have to find a first aid center. There had to be one nearby.

But the fight was far from over. Merida's bow and arrow remained firmly aimed on a dark alleyway between two buildings. She was losing her patience. "Why don't ye come an' face us, ya _coward_?!"

Slow footsteps were heard. A tall, lanky figure emerged from the darkness…easily recognizable as Dr. Facilier. Even though the arrow had grazed his cheek, leaving a decent cut, he acted as calm as ever. "Now, now, princess. Why don't we talk this out like civilized folk?"

She held the arrow to his chest, startling him. She gave him a glare that could pierce through solid steel. "_Yew _do the talkin'. We'll see how it goes from there," she demanded.

They all waited for him to speak up, but for a long moment his mouth remained shut. "Well?!" Merida shouted, jabbing her arrow at him.

Just like that, his 'businessman' smile was on again. "Unfortunately, my lady, I am under an agreement of strict confidentiality," he said with a smirk. "You ain't gettin' anything out of me."

"Are you sure about that?" There was Rapunzel, standing close with her frying pan aimed for the man's skull. Even Elsa, despite her injuries, had grabbed tight at his arm, ready to freeze it solid if necessary.

The doctor's expression remained unchanged. "Sorry, girls, no can do…"

At that moment, Elsa grasped harder, and Facilier's wrist started turning blue. He cringed, pulling away. "All right, all right! Fine, if that's how you want to negotiate…" It was almost scary how easily he switched between moods. "The master wants to get rid of any major threats before the big events start. We got somethin' _big _planned…"

Rapunzel's eyes narrowed. "And who exactly is this 'master'?"

"My apologies, but that's all I can get away with tellin' you," he answered with a polite tip of his hat. "My lips are _sealed_."

They got the feeling he was telling the truth. After all, there were baddies a lot more powerful than him that could wipe him out in a heartbeat. Still, Merida refused to withdraw just yet. "We better not see ye around here again, Doctor. Else next time, it won't be just yer face that's hit."

"That seems reasonable enough," he replied deadpan, and soon he was walking back into the shadows like nothing had happened.

Anna had been speechless through this whole debacle. She had to say something… "Uh, wow. That was…pretty neat?" That felt like the wrong thing to say. They could've been killed!

But Rapunzel and Merida calmed down almost right away. "That was nothin', really!" Merida grinned. "I've faced worse than _him _before."

"Well, yeah. I guess that's true." Which was worse, creepy voodoo man or giant, hyper-muscled bear? To Anna, they both seemed about the same, but obviously Merida thought differently. At that moment, she noticed Elsa seemed a little on the gloomy side…

"Elsa?" she muttered as she approached. "Is everything okay?"

She nodded. "Yes, Anna…" Well, that wasn't entirely true. "I-I've never actually hurt someone with my powers on purpose. Until now."

"But look at what he did to you!" she exclaimed, gesturing to her scraped-up limbs and face. "He totally deserved it!"

"I know, I know, but…" She couldn't bring herself to believe _anyone _deserved to be injured by her hands, not even someone as despicable as Facilier. "I really wasn't thinking when I did it. I just wanted to help so bad…"

Anna laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. He's gone now anyway."

"That's true…" It didn't seem like she'd done any permanent damage, at least. That was something positive to think about. She sighed and leaned against a tree, trying to calm herself down.

Rapunzel expressed concern on her face. "Are you all right, Elsa?" she asked.

"I'll be okay," she reassured her friend. "I'm…exhausted! I think I'd like to just go back to our room."

Anna had wanted to have more fun today. This place was so big, they hadn't even got half of everything done! Still, she knew Elsa couldn't handle it right now. "Sure. Let's go back," she agreed, holding her hand.

"Do you need help getting back?" Rapunzel piped in.

"No, I think we'll be okay," Anna answered, turning back to wave to them as she walked with her sister to Main Street. "Hopefully it won't take too long to rest up. See you both later!"

"Okay! Bye!" they waved back.

Elsa managed a smile as they approached the monorail station. "Thanks for helping me back there, Anna," she told her.

"Help?" She raised an eyebrow. "Well, I guess I helped, up until there were more than the two shadows…"

"That's fine! That's enough for me," she replied with a smile.

"But…" She recalled watching the three of them fight Facilier together, and all she could do was stand on the sidelines and watch. She felt so useless. "I just wish I could've done more."

This time it was Elsa's turn to comfort her sister. "Anna, the fact that you're there at all means so much to me."

Anna smiled a bit. "I'm glad you're here for me too, sis," she said.

They boarded the train, taking comfort in one another's presence…and setting aside any remaining insecurities so they could enjoy the moment. Those could be addressed later, once things had winded down.


	7. Recruited

I guess this is a filler chapter, lol. There was a lot of exposition and character stuff I needed to get out of the way. Um, I hope you enjoy it anyway. XD

* * *

Tensions remained high the day after the…incident. Sure, all Elsa ended up needing was some rest and a few bandages, but after a fight like that, how could anyone settle down easily? Elsa certainly couldn't, anyway. So much for Disney World being a paradise. Not when there were villains lurking around every corner.

It had been Dr. Facilier this time, and she knew he was one of the weaker ones. But he had said there was a group of them planning everything, so lord knew it wasn't the end of it. She could only imagine who would come after her next… Hopefully someone without any magic at all? No, if they had sent Facilier the first time, they wouldn't take that step down. She had no idea which one of them was most powerful. And with the side knowledge that there were still baddies she hadn't heard of yet…

"Elsa?" Anna interrupted.

"Huh?!" How long had she been lost in her own train of thought? Seemed like it happened all the time now. Though when you had lived by yourself for so long, it was something you got really good at. "Sorry, Anna. What was that again?"

"I was asking what you wanted for breakfast."

Breakfast did sound great right about now. Wait, in bed? "You really don't have to bring it up for me. I-I can get it myself…" she stuttered, managing to get out of bed though her knees still stung with any movement she made.

"Are you sure?" Her sister leaned in.

"Yes, Anna! I'm fine, really," she smiled. What she failed to notice was that each of her footsteps was leaving a big, snowy print on the carpet.

Anna raised an eyebrow. Part of her wanted to laugh, but if it meant she was in pain… "Really, really sure?" she said with more concern this time.

"Of course. It's just a few scrapes…" It was only then that she noticed her footprints. "Oh…oh, dear. That's what this is about, then?"

She nodded. "Elsa, don't make yourself get up if it's still hurting…" she ordered, one step away from shoving her back into bed.

"It doesn't hurt_ that _much!" she said, dodging her sister's push. "It's just a natural reaction to pain, any pain. I can't help it…"

She sighed. "You're telling the truth, right?" She hated when she tried to hide things from her. It had gotten a lot better, but every now and then there'd be a situation like this.

Elsa felt bad now; how could she make her sister worry so much? But she smiled and tried to reassure her anyway. "Trust me, if it was anything serious, there'd be a _lot _more snow around."

Anna paused, deciding whether or not to believe her…but she did seem truthful this time around. "Okay! Then let's go get something to eat!" she said cheerfully, taking Elsa's hand.

But before they could take a single step, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Anna shouted, letting Elsa loose and running to the door without a second thought. She flung the door open, and…it was someone she didn't recognize. And wearing glasses. "Um, hi," she said with an awkward wave.

"Hello," the man in glasses greeted back. "I didn't wake you girls up, did I?"

"Oh, no! Not at all!" she smiled. Getting up early was so much easier when she was here – maybe so much too look forward to. "So what's going on?"

He flipped through a notebook, looking a little uneasy. "Well, if you have time, there's someone who'd like to meet with you…"

"Really? Who?"

"A fellow by the name of Mr. Mouse," he said with a laughing smile.

Now that wasn't something she'd expected to hear. "Mr. Mouse? Wha…" Then she remembered. The mouse that had been in the show yesterday! Or…she _assumed _it was a mouse. It was really weird looking, but there wasn't really anything else it could be. "Oh yes, of course! Where does he want us to meet?"

"In the lounge," he replied. "As soon as possible. He says it's urgent."

"Oh, okay…" Was it about yesterday? She didn't know things were that serious already…. "Then we should only be a few minutes. Promise!"

"Great! We'll see you there," and without another word, he closed the door. Anna blinked; once she opened it again, he was already gone. _Wow, that really _is _urgent. _Better get a move on, then.

She called out to her sister. "Elsa! We have to go to a meeting!"

"I heard, I heard," she replied, just putting the finishing touches on her hair. "Are you ready, Anna?"

"Yep! Been ready for a while now!" she grinned.

"Then let's head down." And they both hurried down the hallway.

* * *

Finding the lounge proved harder than expected. There was a different restaurant around every corner, it seemed, but none of them were the right place – even though the food looked _delicious_. Anna was so hungry, she had to restrain herself from just grabbing a plate of waffles and running off with it. They better have breakfast prepared at the meeting, she thought in frustration.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a signpost directed them to the location. The room was kept quite a bit darker than other parts of the hotel, which only emphasized how small it was. A curved bar counter took up the majority, with a few tables and velvety seats scattered around it. Not surprisingly, there was nobody hanging around here at this hour…except for the mouse.

Off stage, it was easier to see just how _strange _this thing looked. Pitch black fur, but a human-colored face. Gloves on its hands, shoes on its feet, and yet no shirt and only a red pair of shorts on his lower half. With the tail sticking out of them. And the ears…could you even call them mouse ears? They lacked any distinguishing features that would identify them as such.

Elsa managed to get over the oddity of the situation and speak up. "Good morning, Mr. Mouse…"

Mickey looked over. "Oh, hi, girls!" he said, getting up from his seat and offering a handshake. "Glad you're able to stop by. I got really worried for a second."

Elsa and Anna both returned the shake. "No need to worry, sir. Apart from a few mishaps, everything's been fantastic," she reassured him.

He looked more serious now. "I'm glad you brought that up, because that's exactly what I want to talk about." With that, the mouse led them back to table. "Have a seat. And please, just call me Mickey!"

They each took a seat next to each other, not sure what to think of the whole situation. Anna looked over to her sister, hoping she would know at least a little more than her what to do…but alas, she did not. Even though the meeting back in Arendelle hadn't bothered her in the slightest, for some reason this felt different. This one was serious; Elsa had actually been hurt. She knew she couldn't play around like usual, and so she did her best to look as serious as possible. But Elsa laid a hand on top of hers, and she couldn't help but crack a smile.

Mickey sat down across the way, folding his hands on the table. "I hope you've been recovering well. That sure looked like a nasty fight."

That got Elsa's attention. "You saw?" _Why didn't you help? _was what she wanted to say, but she didn't want to sound accusatory.

"I did," he nodded. "But they wouldn't let me leave in the middle of the show. Not even for that…"

"But it's dangerous! Shouldn't the people know about that?" Anna exclaimed, her frustration getting the better of her. Somehow, even with the quick recovery, she felt like other people weren't doing enough. Or maybe it was only herself who wasn't doing enough.

"I'm sorry! It's not something I can control," he sighed. "You have to understand…they don't want the Guests to know about the magic around here, or the _real _magic, anyway. Because it's dangerous. They don't want other people gettin' involved."

Anna was about to argue with him, but Elsa stopped her. She could understand the reasoning behind this a little better. The reason behind her own actions for the longest time…

"But how can they _not _find out?" Anna finally managed to say.

"Well, we have a spell on the whole place to hide everything. No normal Guest notices the difference," he explained. "As long as that's true, the only people who get hurt are the ones who _need _to know about it. At least, that's how it's worked out through the years…"

That certainly explained why no one else in the audience had batted an eyelash at Elsa's fall. But something still wasn't right. "But the monorail. People were hurt when that happened," Elsa realized.

Mickey's expression turned grim. "I have a feeling they're finding ways to get past our usual spells. The villains, I mean. They've gotten stronger somehow."

Seeing what seemed like such a cheerful guy turn so serious got the girls a little anxious. For a moment, neither of them knew what to say. What could you ask after hearing something like that? Was it any of their business to speak up in the first place? Was there something, anything they could do?

Finally, the mouse spoke up again. "There have been a few invasions like this before, but nothing on this scale." He looked through the window, then back at the pair. Clearly this was serious business. "We're gonna need everyone's help to get through this. And includes the both of you," he asserted, pointing to them.

Both their eyes widened. "Us?" Elsa repeated. She had fought with her powers before, that was true, but it was against people with guns and spears. Magic against magic was something different entirely. "Mickey, I'm sorry, but we just arrived a few days ago. Neither of us know much about this place…"

"Then you have plenty of time to learn," he replied. His expression abruptly returned to a smile. "In fact, I brought a few gifts to help ya get adjusted! Hope it's not too big a surprise…" He took a few wrapped-up packages and set them in front of the girls.

Anna had been speechless from all this new info, but the idea of presents helped her perk up a bit. "Oh, thank you! Which one do we open first?" she smiled.

"Let's try this one," Elsa answered, carefully unwrapping a package about the size of a large book. And, in fact, it _was _a book: its title, _Disney Ultimate Encyclopedia, _engraved on the cover in silver lettering. "Oh, this should be useful," she remarked, flipping through the pages. It was loaded with pictures and facts regarding just about every character she could remember seeing so far – and some she hadn't seen as well.

Anna peered over her shoulder to look at the book. It was so thick! "That really is ultimate," she gaped.

Mickey laughed. "It was the most detailed book I could find."

"Then thank you very much," Elsa responded. Now it was time for the second gift, and this one had a much more irregular shape. Once unwrapped, it turned out to be two plush toys – one that resembled each of them.

Anna squealed. "These are just like the ones we had when we were little!" she cried, bouncing the Anna one up and down in her hands.

Elsa laughed at her sister's reaction, taking the other doll in her arms as well. "These are very nice," she agreed with a wide smile. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen that doll. At some point Anna had taken them both into her own room…

"Don't get carried away just yet! There's one more left," Mickey pointed out.

"Oh! Right…" she chuckled, a little embarrassed at her more childish moment. The last package, wrapped in gold foil, had a distinctly round shape – and it was rather heavy. Slowly, she pulled away the paper…

"A snowglobe?" That's what Anna thought it was at first, but upon closer inspection, the objects floating around weren't snowflakes, but little white birds. How cute! "So it's a _bird_-globe," she decided. "But I've never seen that building before. A church?"

"It's St. Paul's Cathedral," Elsa remembered from her reading. "In London."

"Ohh," Anna nodded. Elsa was so smart!

The mouse turned the snowglobe upside down for her. "Go ahead and wind up the knob," he told them.

Elsa did as he said, turning the notch a few circles around, and as it winded the other way, a beautiful music box-like melody came from inside. "Oh, how beautiful…"

Anna grinned. "Mickey, you give the best gifts ever!"

"Aw, gosh…" he blushed. "It's nothing, really. That's one of my favorites, actually. I hope you both enjoy it."

It wasn't long before the clock struck eleven, and employees started to arrive to set up the bar. This setting wasn't so private anymore. "I guess we should get going," Elsa decided, taking the gifts in her hands.

Mickey smiled. "It was nice meeting you girls," he said, waving. "I hope you have a good rest of your stay at Disney World!"

"Thank you, Mickey! You are so sweet!" Anna replied, giving him a hug. Once you got to know him, he was actually really cute. "Bye!"

"Goodbye!"

The sisters headed back to their room, each hugging onto their dolls, happy to have a moment of relief after a day of chaos.

* * *

Not a single footstep could be heard. Not one word was spoken. There wasn't any sign of people being here for ages. Buildings and fenceposts and exotic plant life lay across the land abandoned, slowly but unmistakeably decaying. A lone island sitting on the lagoon…

It had been over twelve years since Discovery Island was closed to the public. In that time, plently of new ideas were created, developed, and brought to fruition in every area of the resort…and yet the island was left untouched. Right in the middle of the beautiful Magic Kingdom resort area remained this large eyesore. Not that anybody would notice. The area was cut off for before one could even get a decent view of it, even for the company's own boats.

Naturally, this proved to be an advantage for certain groups who wanted to carry out their business in secret.

In the murky waters surrounding the islet, Ursula was preparing something extra special. Admittedly, it proved to be a difficult task – working with the components of a freshwater environment wasn't exactly her forte. But she had to make do with what was available. At the very least, she still had her crystal bubble to work with.

This was certainly an interesting pair of girls, wasn't it? So close together, and yet still so vulnerable. Though they walked back to their room with smiles, the sea witch could sense there were anxieties betweent them that weren't being spoken. One was still struggling with the idea of fighting. It was only recently that she'd regained control after such a long time. Facing such a great threat, would she still be able to maintain that? Would her power even be enough? Still, everybody here had done so much for her and her sister, she felt like she owed it to them…

Then there was the younger sister. She also felt some fear, but tried to shrug it off with the determination she also felt. If this was going to be a long-term thing, then there was a good chance someone would come after Elsa again – and she had to be ready to be there for her at a moment's notice. But last time hadn't been good enough. That had startled her, she hadn't had time to act before the other princesses already had it taken care of. Now she'd have to put more effort into putting up a fight! Still, she couldn't exactly fight _well. _What if she couldn't hold her own? There had to be some way to figure things out.

Ursula grinned cunningly. All those inner doubts gave her the perfect chance to lure them in. Get them to think she could fix everything for them. Now, what sort of enchantment would work best for this? she thought as she stared into her boiling cauldron. It was then that she recalled a spell she had come across some time ago, and she smirked. Yes, that would work perfectly…

* * *

There was an awkward silence as the sisters returned to their room. Elsa sighed; why couldn't she bring herself to say anything? It was only Anna. Probably because she'd say the same thing she always said: 'don't worry about it, you'll do great', etc. etc. And that was nice and all, but would it work this time around? When she tried to tell herself the same thing, it didn't.

"Elsa?" Anna looked over.

Had she heard her? "Y-Yes, Anna?"

"Do you know where you could buy something like…oh, I don't know…a bow and arrow?"

She raised an eyebrow. "A bow and arrow? What would you do with that?"

Anna sat down by her. "Well, Merida has one, and she sure seems to get a lot of use out of it," she remarked.

"That's true…" Elsa admitted. "But she's been using it for years! That's not something you can just learn in a few days."

"Oh, come on. How hard could it be?" she replied with a laugh.

"_Hard_."

"Well, there's gotta be _something _I could use…" She rested her chin on her hands in thought. "A frying pan sounds easier. Or…this thing!" she exclaimed, grabbing a lamp from off the bedside table and swinging it around. "This could do some damage!"

"Woah, careful where you swing that thing," Elsa giggled.

"But I need to practice, right?" And she did, until she got tangled up in the wire and feel. "Whoops…"

Elsa burst out laughing, helping her up. But then the worry started to set in. This was bigger than anything they'd faced before. The idea of Anna fighting people like that…

"Everything all right?" Anna asked with a concerned look.

"O-Of course," she smiled. Best to go ahead and be honest with her now. "Anna…I'm not sure about this. This is scary enough for me as it is. I can't imagine what it'd be like for you!"

"But that's why I have to help!" Anna exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her sister. "It won't be as scary if we're together."

"No, that just makes it worse!" A flurry blew into Anna's face, but she shrugged it off easily. Elsa groaned; they hadn't even been in a real fight yet. Now was NOT the time to be getting emotional. _Calm down. You still have time to figure this out._ "I-I'm so sorry about this," she continued. "This was supposed to be our vacation together. I can't believe all of this could happen…"

Anna pulled her closer. "You don't need to be sorry for anything. You had no way of knowing this was gonna happen."

"I know, but …"

"But _nothing_," she interrupted, putting a finger to her lips. "This'll work out. It always works out!"

"I…" That had been true in the past, but this was like nothing they'd ever seen before. Of all the places something on this scale could happen, it had to be in a foreign country, to boot. "I still don't know, Anna. I need to give this some thought," she sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed.

Anna's shoulders drooped. "But we already promised Mickey…"

"That's true," she answered. She couldn't just break a promise like that, especially one that seemed so important. But she recalled the exact wording of it. "I promised that we would _try_ it. I can't say if I'll be up for it after the first try."

Anna paused in thought; that made sense. At least they could give it a shot. "But we _will_ try, right?

"Of course," she said, making an effort to smile more. "We can see how it goes the first time around."

"Great!" She sat by her sister, taking her hand. "You're so brave, Elsa, you know that?"

Brave? After all _that _had happened? Hardly. "You're really the braver one," she muttered. "You're never afraid of anything."

"That's not true!" she whined.

"It sure seems like it most of the time," she smirked.

"But I was scared when that creepy voodoo man was there…" She eyed her sisters elbows and knees, which were still covered up in plaster bandages. "I wasn't strong enough to keep my hold on you. Everything's worked out so well, but right now I'm not doing a very good job, huh?"

"Of what?" she inquired.

"Of being a good sister."

She let out a soft gasp. How could Anna worry about that? SHE was the one who was supposed to worry about things like that! "Anna, you're a _perfect _sister! Just look at how far we've come!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands out to this nicely sized room. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have ever stepped out of the house, much less crossed the ocean to another country."

Anna cracked a smile. "Your social skills _did _need work," she chuckled.

"Let me just say…" she continued, looking back on those memories, "that if I was good enough for you then, you are plenty good enough for me now."

There was a pause, and then Elsa found herself in the tightest hug she'd had in a while, even from Anna. "Ooh, you're the bestest sister ever!" the younger girl mumbled out between a barrage of kisses.

"H-Hey! Cut it out!" Elsa teased before she couldn't hold her laughter in anymore.

And just like that, the mood was lifted again. "You know what? We need to do something fun now," Anna asserted. "We're in _Disney World_! We can't be upset here! It's just feels _wrong!_"

Elsa nodded. "So what do you think you want to do?"

"Um…" There was so much that she couldn't keep track. And she still felt like there was stuff she was missing out on because she didn't know about it. She mused over the possibilities. "I know! What about that big studio place?"

"Studio?" It took a moment for her to remember, but then the image popped up – one of the parks had been called 'Hollywood Studios.' Maybe some of that kind of fun was just what they needed to relax. "Sure! That sounds like fun."

"Great!" Anna shouted, packing up her purse faster than she ever had before. Elsa smiled; her sister was never in a bad mood for very long, was she? Maybe if they could work with one another's strengths in this way, a battle or two could work out after all…

At least, that's what she hoped for.


	8. Reality Check

FINALLY! FINALLY I GOT THIS DONE!

...Yeah, this is really late. I am so sorry, you guys. It's the end of the semester, finals are in full gear, and...I haven't exactly been in the most stable place emotionally. And Frozen is something that really stirs up the feels. I'll try to keep on schedule better from now on. Summer break's in two weeks, so hopefully that won't be a problem! I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

The monorail didn't travel to Hollywood Studios; instead, there was a 'bus.' Whereas the monorail had been small and streamlined, this was very large, clunky, cube-shaped, and from the looks of it, a bit on the rickety side as it pulled to its stop. Thankfully, though, the crowds for boarding it weren't quite as hectic.

On the other hand, the ride was a lot noisier, even with the music playing inside the vehicle. There seemed to be bumps in the road frequently. And there was no scenery to look at whatsoever! Nothing but trees, road, trees, road… Anna tried to distract herself by listening to the music. It was the song from that ride Elsa liked. _It's a world of laughter, a world of tears… _How cute! She started to bob her head along.

Finally, the bus reached its destination. Elsa and Anna stepped off one after the other, making their way into the park. What a strange atmosphere this one had. Not the traditional feel of the Magic Kingdom, nor the futuristic vibe of Epcot… If anything, it felt like somewhere in between. Moreover, there wasn't any one place that people gathered around; the crowds were more spread out, which certainly made Elsa feel more comfortable. Around that time, Anna noticed the centerpiece of the area.

"Look at that!" she pointed. "It's…a giant wizard hat?"

"Looks like it," Elsa nodded. It was a very fake-looking hat – which wouldn't have been surprising, but she had heard no stones were used to make Cinderella's castle, even though there appeared to be many. If the architects here could replicate stone texture, was fabric really that much harder? Still, it was an impressive sight, with the blue and gold contrasting very nicely.

Anna noticed the swirls at the sides. "Are those supposed to be Mickey's ears?" she wondered.

She pondered this. "I guess it couldn't be anything else."

"Is Mickey a wizard?" she asked herself, putting two and two together.

"I-I suppose," Elsa answered. "He never mentioned that…" She had to admit, being ordered around by him would've felt a little better if she had known he would be participating in the fighting as well. She wondered how much power he had. For someone who was in charge of this entire place, it had to be quite a lot…

Anna was fascinated by the idea. She was learning so much about magic here. Wizards and princesses and fairies… Were they _made _of magic, too? Elsa certainly wasn't, of course. But she had made Olaf, who wouldn't be able to exist otherwise. And Mickey and his friends also seemed like something that couldn't exist without some sort of magic. It was all so interesting – could it be something she could help Elsa with?

Soon enough, they both ran out of thoughts to keep themselves busy with. "So what should we do first?" Anna asked.

"Well…" Elsa unfolded and glanced over the map. "Oh! There's a tour of some sort." She wasn't exactly sure what 'backlot' meant, but it surely couldn't be anything too out there. "That could help us get a better feel of the place."

"Sounds like fun!" she agreed. They followed the map, heading to the place where the tour started together. Navigating around here was a lot more difficult than the other two parks; supposedly it _was _split up into areas, but you could barely tell one apart from the other. Was that where the tour started? No, that was some sort of stage show. Maybe the one next to it? Nope, that was a playground! At this rate, Elsa was starting to believe they were hopelessly lost…

And just when they were about to give up, there it was, clearly marked by a sign in the front.

Anna smiled. "I knew we'd find it!"

"You were the one who kept trying to wander off somewhere else," Elsa replied, rolling her eyes.

"Hehe…" She grinned sheepishly. "Well, it could've been anywhere! I had to check out every place!"

"Sure you did." She smiled, putting the map away.

"Anyway, are we gonna go in or what?"

"Of course!" Elsa was about to step inside, but Anna strutted right past her, apparently in more of a rush. Silly Anna, she chuckled to herself. So they made their way through the queue, which came across as very bland compared to the other ones they'd seen. Every once in a while, a poster would be hanging on the wall. For different plays? No, probably movies. There was no way those sorts of effects could happen on a stage. They discussed each one they passed, trying to interpret the story from its poster, but didn't have much luck. Hopefully when the tour started, they'd get a chance to actually figure it out.

Soon enough they joined a small crowd, which was directed to a balcony standing over an artificial pond. It was especially hot today, and the very sound of flowing water was so refreshing… At least, Anna thought so; Elsa always managed to keep cool, for obvious reasons. At that point, a bunch of people were called up to stand on the platform set over the water. The crowd started to dwindle a bit.

"And you!" a worker shouted. "Come on up here."

Anna blinked. "Wait, _me_?" she asked, pointing to herself.

"Yes, you! Who else would it be?"

"Oh, okay!" She hopped down over to the platform. She got to be part of the show! How exciting! She waved to Elsa as she stepped into the little compartment that was there, and her sister laughed, waving back.

She started up a nice conversation with the host of the show, when suddenly the strange bucket machine nearby filled with water and threw it all onto her! The current was powerful; she tried to block it with her arms, but that didn't accomplish anything. Finally, when it wasn't being pelted anymore, she was able to breathe again and open her eyes.

Of course, she was sopping wet now. She turned her eyes to the audience, who were in a mixture of applause and laughter, but mostly applause. Elsa looked like she wanted to laugh, but was trying hard not to. And soon, Anna was laughing along with them. It'd caught her off guard, but at least she was cooled off now!

There were a few more fancy tricks that they showed off – blasts of water, portions of the pond being set on fire and then put out in an instant. Then the show came to an end, and Anna was allowed to go back into the crowd as they walked to the next part of the tour.

"Are you okay?" Elsa asked her as they reunited. "That looked a little painful…"

"Oh, yeah! It was fine!" Anna giggled, starting to squeeze the water out of her braids.

They boarded a tram that took them through the rest of the area, so the breeze helped her dry off quite a bit. Still, this water had a strong smell to it, and that didn't fade as easily. Elsa was grateful that she wasn't called up. Who knew what could happen if she was pelted with a bucket of water like that? It'd probably freeze in midair as soon as it touched her. That would be a sight to see.

As she thought about that, the car started to shake. Something was lit on fire before a torrent of water made its way down the 'canyon' next to them, splattering directly onto Elsa. She gasped as she immediately became drenched.

Anna stifled a laugh. "Guess I'm not the only one to get soaked today."

"Guess not," Elsa muttered, smoothing her hair back out of her face. Not even the other water rides had been this wet! Well, maybe that Splash Mountain was, but they hadn't been able to ride it. Not that it was much of a bother, actually. Anna was right, it _was _pretty refreshing.

After that the ride was peaceful, with various costumes and items on display. Anna didn't recognize any of them from the movies they'd seen. This place sure seemed to have a lot of them. How much time would it take to watch them all? Those first few had taken almost the whole night…

When the tour ended, Elsa found herself feeling tired already. Now didn't seem like the time for another thrill attraction – not that those were much of an option anyway, noticing how far the lines extended. "Maybe we should do something more relaxing now," she suggested.

Anna looked at her. "That wasn't relaxing?"

"Not when there's water flying at you at a moment's notice."

"Yeah, that makes sense." She stopped to think about what they could do. There were a lot of different rides around, but none of them really gave off a relaxing vibe. Then something caught her eye – it was a little statue of Mickey, wearing the same wizard hat that was in the front of the park. Anna pointed to it. "Look! It's Mickey again."

"Oh, yeah." That didn't surprise her – after all, Mickey was more or less _everywhere _here. It was the sign placed below him that interested her. "_The Magic of Disney Animation…_"

"What's animation?" Anna asked.

"It usually means…movement. Activity." Though the meanings of words did change over time. She had a feeling that wasn't quite what was being implied here.

She smiled. "That sounds like fun! Wanna check it out?"

"Sure, why not?" she shrugged.

As they made their way into the seats in the first room, they were greeted by a movie screen. The screen, however, was smaller than usual, with the remaining space taken up by what looked like an artist's workshop. What did art have to do with all this? And there were various drawings hung on the wall as well, some of people they recognized.

Soon, the lights dimmed and the movie started. A familiar character walked onto the screen. "Mushu!" Anna exclaimed. The dragon and an unseen narrator started a discussion about the art form of animation…apparently a sort of art that was used to make a lot of the different movies. Sequences of motion were drawn and then rapidly switched in and out to create the illusion of moving pictures.

But something about that didn't make sense. All the figures they'd become acquainted with so far, they had been real, living people, not paintings or pencil sketches. The movies were basically the stories of their lives. But…was it all really made up from scratch? How was that even possible? It had to all be real, Elsa had met the proof in person. And yet…there was still a lingering doubt…

"Elsa?" Anna whispered. "Is everything okay?"

"Hm? Y-Yes, everything's fine, Anna…" She certainly hoped everything was fine. It wasn't anything to get worked up about, was it? Either way, she needed to calm down for the sake of having a good time.

There was a pause. Anna spoke up again. "Elsa, are they really drawings?"

"I-I'm not sure," she mumbled.

"Are _we _drawings?"

Her eyes widened. All this time thinking about everyone else, it never crossed her mind that it may affect _them, _too. Could they be creations of these people as well? Fabrications made for entertainment? … "No, that's ridiculous," she replied, trying to sound confident.

"Are you sure?"

"I…no. I'm not," she sighed.

"Hm…" Anna looked back to the screen as if nothing had happened. Elsa tried to relax as well, though it didn't come as easily for her. She needed something else to distract herself with, to get these thoughts out of her head for at least a little while. Luckily, at that moment, the movie ended, and the audience was directed into the next room.

Various exhibits and games were plastered around on the walls and floors; this didn't seem to be a guided portion of the tour. Anna immediately went to try a game, so Elsa, not knowing what else to do, checked out the art on display. There were several designs for different 'characters' in a display case…that made her feel uneasy again. Maybe the exhibits weren't going to help, either. There was a bench nearby, so she sat down and took a deep breath, just watching Anna play a game or two…

"Ow, hey!" The new voice startled her, and she looked down to see a very short little girl…whose foot she'd inadvertently sat on.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She was about to move to a different spot, but before she could get up, there was a flash and the girl seemed to…_fade from existence _altogether. She gasped, but a moment later, she was back, albeit sitting more toward the bench's edge.

"Geez, try to watch where you sit, lady. I coulda gotten squashed under your butt," the girl pouted. She noticed the stunned look she was getting from her. "…What?"

Elsa tried to relax again. "W-What was _that_?"

"What, that?" She smirked proudly, her body distorting strangely as she did so. "Oh, it's just a little thing I do…

"Well…that's very interesting," she responded, not sure what else to say. Was this another person with magical powers of some sort? In hindsight, she felt bad about how she'd reacted to it; it seemed hypocritical of her.

But the little girl shrugged it off. "So, I take it you're new here."

She blushed; was it really that easy to tell? "Yes, that's true," she replied.

Thought so. Suddenly she stood up on the bench, extending her hand to shake. "I'm President Vanellope von Schweetz. Nice to meetcha!"

"Oh, nice to meet you too." She returned the handshake – hers was tightly gripped and full of energy. "I'm Elsa…Queen Elsa, of Arendelle."

"Ooh, a queen! That's new," she grinned. "Not one of the evil types, are you?"

"W-What? No! Of course not!" She was almost offended she would suggest something like that, and then she remembered where she was. Evil queens were kind of a thing here, weren't they? "I mean, I certainly don't consider myself to be evil…"

"Good enough!" Vanellope interrupted. Elsa sighed to herself in relief. At least she was making a good impression. But before she could continue the conversation, she heard a strange noise. It sounded like footsteps. But they were very _loud _footsteps, and they only seemed to get louder…

She was startled from the shadow that suddenly loomed over them. Her glance drifted upwards…and her mouth gaped open. This man was _enormous. _At least, she assumed it was a man. It looked almost more like a caricature of a man. His shoulders were each twice the size of his head at the very least, and his hands may have been even bigger than that.

But his face didn't calm across as threatening in the slightest. In fact, it looked very calm right now. It was only then that he noticed the other woman sitting next to his friend. "Oh. Um…hey there."

"…Hello," Elsa answered after a while, trying not to show her apprehension.

"Ralph!" Vanellope exclaimed, leaping onto the man's shoulders like it was nothing. "You got some stuff for me?"

The man – Ralph, apparently – rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Yeah, I got your stuff," he answered, grabbing four or five different chocolate bars from his shopping bag and tossing them in her direction. She caught them effortlessly, and tore the wrapper from one.

No one said anything for a while. The other two didn't seem to mind, but with Elsa being the odd one out at the moment, she felt like she was making things more awkward just by being there. Well, she couldn't let that last. She made an effort to actually say something. "Er, pardon me, but I don't think we've had our proper introductions yet."

"Oh, right!" Vanellope hopped back onto the bench, bouncing around like she weighed nothing. "Ralph, Queenie. Queenie, Ralph."

"Queenie?" Ralph raised an eyebrow.

"My name is Elsa, actually," she corrected, standing up and instinctively reaching out for a handshake. "Elsa, queen of Arendelle."

"Oh, a queen, huh?" His eyes widened and his cheeks reddened visibly; it happened a lot with people who weren't used to being around royalty, Elsa had found, but on someone as rough-and-tumble looking as him, it was funnier than usual. Her smile became more genuine now. "W-Well, it's very nice to meet you, your majesty," he continued.

It was at this point that she was starting to regret initiating a handshake, as one of his hands bigger than her own head reached out to respond. Yet when he did grasp her hand, he was surprised at how gentle it was. Maybe firm for a person of normal size, but from him, she'd been expecting a lot worse. "Glad meeting you, too, Ralph. And Elsa's fine."

Ralph calmed down a little, seeing she wasn't intimidating like he'd thought a queen would be. "So, is this your first time around here?"

"Well, yes," Elsa blushed. It must've really been obvious if two people had noticed it already. "I guess it shows, huh?"

"No, it's just I've never seen ya around before," he replied.

"Oh!" Another sigh of relief came. "It is quite a bit to get used to," she added. "My sister's been taking to it a little better than I have."

"You have a sister?" Vanellope muttered, just swallowing a mouthful of chocolate. "You never said anything about that!"

"I never got the chance to," she pointed out, half laughing at how hyper this girl was. "Yes, I do have a sister. She wandered off somewhere a little while ago…"

Just as she said so, Anna came running back over. "Elsa! You wanna do some shopping, or…" It was then that she noticed the _giant _standing right next to her. Her eyes widened to saucers. "Whoa."

Ralph smirked. "So. You're Elsa's sister, I take it?"

"Uh, yeah…" She looked at her sister. "What the heck happened while I was gone?!"

"Oh!" She stood up again. Of course she'd have to clear things up. "Well, this is Ralph, and the little one is Vanellope."

"He's _huge_!"

"Yeah, everyone says that," Ralph chuckled.

Anna tried to grasp this new concept. How could a person so large even function in daily life? "How did you even get through the door?"

"Well, I'll tell ya, it wasn't easy…"

"I'm so _bored!_" Vanellope suddenly whined in the middle of her second candy bar. "Why don't we go do something fun, Ralph? We shouldn't be sittin' here all day."

He shrugged. "Well, okay. What do you wanna do?"

"Let's go on the rock coaster!" she exclaimed, throwing her fists in the air.

"The rock coaster _again_?!" he rolled his eyes. "We've done that three time's already."

She smiled. "Well, you know what they say. Fourth time's the charm, right?"

"Nobody says that, Van," he replied with no particular mood in his voice.

"Well, I just did, didn't I?" she pointed out.

"That doesn't count."

"Does too."

"Does not."

"Does too."

"Does not."

"Does too…"

Anna was quickly getting bored of this conversation too, and she watched people walk out the exit doorway when she saw a building that intrigued her. It wouldn't have stood out much…except she saw a poster of her and Elsa on the side of it. That was weird… "What's that over there?" she asked, interrupting their little argument.

Vanellope looked up. "Aw, that's your place now?" she asked, seeming a little disappointed. "It used to be ours."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Uh…" Ralph tried to find the words to explain. "Well, that's the place where other guests come to meet us…I mean, you."

"Really?" Anna perked up. They could meet so many people that way. "That sounds like fun!"

"I guess it could be fun…" Elsa had already done a few 'meet-and-greets' as queen, and normally they got quite tiring after a while. But this place had different rules, different expectations. She wondered if she could be a bit more relaxed this time around.

"Wanna go see it?" Anna suggested.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Elsa shrugged.

"All right, then! Let's go see how they have it set up." Ralph got up as Vanellope leapt onto his shoulder again. He led them to the small building, which, by the looks of things, was still under renovation. Dust filled the air, and most of the walls were completely bare. All that was set up there, it seemed, was a paper cutout depicting Elsa's ice palace.

"Wow…" Elsa breathed out in surprise. "That's really accurate."

"It looks like you could walk right into it!" Anna exclaimed, reaching out for the palace 'door' like she could open it right there.

Vanellope giggled. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" As far as she knew, word of mouth was the only thing that kept her story going. And Anna and her friends had been the only ones to see the palace up close. Her worries from before made their way back to her main train of thought again…

The little girl showed more concern now. "Hey, is something wrong?"

"Elsa?" Anna placed a hand on her shoulder, but she wouldn't answer back; she was too deep in thought. When she really connected the dots, it all made sense. The arrangements, the publicity, the way this world was built…it all led to the same conclusion. A light snowfall started in the room before she realized it.

Ralph's eyes widened. "Van, did your friend ever say anything about making snow?"

"…Nope," she shrugged, more amused by this phenomenon than shocked. That must've been a real fun thing to have!

Anna sighed. "Elsa, please tell me what's wrong."

Seeing how her powers were reacting, she made herself calm down enough to speak. "I guess this means we're not real after all…" she muttered.

"What? What gave you that idea?" Now she was really confused. "You said before…"

"I know what I said before!" she interrupted, louder than she should've. "I was wrong then."

"Oh…" Then that turned everything on its head. Were they like, characters in a movie or a storybook, then? What did that even mean? Someone drew them both on a piece of paper and let them do their thing? Or was there more to it than that? What about the rest of the world?

Though Anna didn't think of these little questions as anything more than casual thought, obviously Elsa wasn't taking it as well. As much as she tried not to create anything else, the floor they stood on was already mostly white.

Ralph tried to remedy the situation. "Hey, if you wanna talk this out… I mean, I'm used to this kinda thing."

Elsa finally spoke up again. "I-If you and I aren't real, then what else isn't? Did anything that happened to us really happen?"

"Of course it did," Anna smiled, trying her best to comfort her. "We have our friends and servants to back it up."

"But wouldn't they be controlled, too?" The wind picked up a bit now, and Anna was starting to doubt herself more as she followed Elsa's thoughts.

"Well…" There had to be a bright side to all of this. There always was. "You're thinking for yourself right now, aren't you? And as long as we're happy, does it really matter?"

"I…_I don't know!_" Now instead of falling gradually, the breeze disappeared altogether and the flurries that had been spinning around the room abruptly dropped to the ground. At least she could manage to relax a little. The idea of being a drawing, something only meant to amuse people, it really hit her hard. But still, she couldn't bring herself to believe that she had no free will, that her life was one big set-up, as plausible as the idea sounded. When everything was boiled down, it was all too important to reduce to something like that.

Anna gave her a second to breathe. "Feeling better?"

"A little," she answered. And yet, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she had been manipulated into coming here, that these people knew just how to toy with her emotions and get her to comply with whatever they wanted. "Anna, do you think we got tricked into getting involved with this? All these stories, and this battle…"

It only took a few seconds for her to give an answer. "It doesn't seem like a trick. Everybody seems to want to take care of us good." But then, who was she, the stupid girl who fell for the psychopathic prince without a second thought, to decide that? a malicious voice in the back of her mind reminded her.

Elsa sighed, letting the snow dissolve as she looked over to Ralph, who hadn't said anything for a while. "I'm sorry for this little…incident. Do you mind if I step out for a while?"

Ralph was still half speechless. "Uh…sure! Take your time," he managed to force out.

"Thanks." And with that, the queen stepped outside once again. Anna followed – she had to, her sister had the map – though she tried to keep her distance in case she accidentally set her off. She seemed to have a knack for that, saying the wrong thing at the worst possible time. She'd tried hard to get better about it, but she doubted she was making much progress…

Elsa seemed exhausted right now, so now didn't seem like the time to continue their conversation anyway. They hadn't eaten anything in a while. Maybe surprising her with snacks would help her perk up! So she skipped to the nearest food kiosk, hoping she was doing the right thing this time around.

And not far away, a young woman watched from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to get her attention.


End file.
